Abstract Body: Introduction: A significant proportion of stroke patients are lost to follow up (LTFU) after discharge, which may be associated with increased risk of morbidity, mortality, and unnecessary hospitalization. We aimed to identify predictors of post-discharge LTFU and unplanned hospitalizations in a cohort of patients with acute stroke from a large academic hospital system.
Methods: Using our institutional AHA Get With the Guidelines quality registry, we conducted a retrospective analysis of all patients who were hospitalized for acute stroke between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2020 at a tertiary-care hospital in New York City. Our primary outcome was post-discharge LTFU, defined as having zero post-discharge encounters within 12 months. Our secondary outcomes included having one or more outpatient visits with a provider, unplanned hospitalizations, and emergency department (ED) visits within 30 days post-discharge. Multiple logistic regression was used to identify factors that were significantly associated with our primary and secondary outcomes, adjusted for confounding demographic and clinical factors.
Results: We identified 2,597 patients hospitalized for acute stroke, of which 878 (33.8%) were LTFU. Of the 1,719 patients not LTFU, 974 (56.7%) had a provider visit, 405 (23.6%) had an unplanned admission, and 257 (14.9%) had an unplanned ED visit within 30 days post-discharge. Patients who were LTFU were significantly more likely to be male (52.9% vs. 47.4%); have an intracerebral (12.1% vs. 8.9%) hemorrhage; discharged to a skilled nursing facility (19.8% vs. 17.0%); and transferred from another hospital (48.0% vs. 40.7%). Clinically, these patients are more likely to have a history of DVT/PE (3.9% vs. 1.3%); receive catheter-based treatment (12.8% vs. 10.0%); and have a modified Rankin scale (mRS) score of 3 or greater at discharge. In the multivariable logistic regression, patients who were discharged to an acute care facility (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 3.3), had a history of DVT/PE (aOR 3.1) or a discharge mRS of 3 (aOR 1.8) had significantly higher odds of LTFU, whereas patients who were discharged to an inpatient rehabilitation facility (aOR 0.65), had a family history of stroke (aOR 0.60) or depression (aOR 0.64) had significantly decreased odds of LTFU.
Conclusions: In this study, patients LTFU after a stroke were more likely to have severe clinical conditions and specific discharge dispositions.