Abstract Body: Background: Classification of etiologic ischemic stroke subtype guides post-stroke care and secondary prevention. Etiologic ischemic stroke subtypes are often not clearly documented in post-stroke care plans especially when transferring from one facility to another. In 2021, AHA/ASA published updated secondary stroke prevention guidelines recommending identifying etiologic ischemic stroke subtypes when possible. The impact of this on post-stroke care is unknown.

Methods: Charts of all patients ages 18 and up, admitted from 1/1/20 to 5/23/21 and from 1/1/22 to 5/23/23 to 3 long-term acute care (LTAC) facilities, on antiplatelet therapy, and with an ascertainable history of stroke within 90 days of admission, were retrospectively reviewed to assess for documentation of ischemic stroke subtype at discharge/transfer to an LTAC facility and to assess for appropriateness of secondary stroke prevention therapies. Care plans from those two time periods were compared to assess for any impact the 2021 guidelines may have had on discharge practices.

Results: Subtypes were not defined for the majority of ischemic strokes. Classification by etiologic subtype was observed in 33% of cases. Classification by territory or location was more common (Fig. 1). One-quarter of patients were on dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) and 75% of patients were on single antiplatelet therapy (SAPT) with more patients on DAPT in the latter time period (Fig. 2A). Rationale for DAPT were not provided for the majority of patients and NIHSS and ABCD2 scored were also not commonly provided for patients on DAPT (Fig. 2B). Close to 90% of patients were treated with antihypertensives and statin therapy at discharge to LTAC; 71% of patients were treated with diabetic therapies at discharge; stroke education at discharge to LTAC was documented for 43% of patients; and LDL was documented in 56% of patients (Fig. 3).

Conclusions: Etiologic ischemic stroke subtypes were not documented for the majority of patients transferred to LTACs. Despite recent guideline revisions, an increase in documentation of stroke subtype was not observed. Optimal secondary stroke prevention strategies were difficult to assess without this information including appropriate antiplatelet regimens. Our findings highlight the importance of the need to improve post-stroke care plans at discharge and transfer including documentation of etiologic ischemic stroke subtypes to facilitate optimal post-stroke care across all transitions.