Clinical Characteristics of Nonagenarian Stroke

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: As the elderly population is fast growing, the incidence of stroke is also increasing. We studied the clinical characteristics of nonagenarian stroke compared to a population of patients under the age of ninety. METHODS: Subjects included 44 nonagenarian stroke patients and 22,227 control patients aged under ninety. Clinical characteristics including age, sex, risk factors, stroke subtype, and outcome (one-year prognosis, evaluated by a modified Rankin scale) were analyzed. RESULTS: The proportion of nonagenarian stroke accounted for 0.2% of all cases of stroke. Ischemic stroke was more common than hemorrhagic stroke in the nonagenarian group. In addition, the female gender was more frequent (p<0.01). As the patients were older, their admission period was shorter, the discharge against medical advice was increased, and the mortality was higher. Hypertension and atrial fibrillation were significantly higher (p<0.05, p<0.001, respectively) in the nonagenarian ischemic stroke patients. CONCLUSIONS: Nonagenarian stroke patients have unique clinical characteristics compared with stroke patients under the age of ninety.