Pneumonia is a Leading Cause for Re-Admission Following Strokes

A new study has found that more hospital readmissions after stroke are for pneumonia or for heart disease than for another stroke.

Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine (Indianapolis, USA) conducted a retrospective observational cohort study that included 2,603 stroke patients discharged from Connecticut (USA) acute care hospitals aged 65 years and older who survived hospitalization for an acute ischemic stroke and who were discharged in 1995. This population was followed from discharge in 1995 through 2000 using Medicare (Baltimore, MD, USA) claims and United States Social Security Administration (Baltimore, MD, USA) mortality data.

The researchers found that more than half of the patients had died or been readmitted to a hospital at least once during the first year after discharge. And five years after the stroke event, almost 9 out of 10 survivors had died or been readmitted to a hospital. These readmissions were more than twice as likely to be for pneumonia as for another stroke. The study was published in the June 2007 issue of the journal Stroke.

"Few stroke patients survive five years without a readmission to the hospital. Our study found that, surprisingly, the most common reasons for readmission to the hospital were non-neurological, with pneumonia or other respiratory problem leading the list of reasons,” said first author Dawn M. Bravata, M.D., an associate professor of medicine.

"These readmissions are an enormous burden on patients, families and the health-care system. We may have a previously unrecognized window of opportunity beginning when the patient is first hospitalized for stroke to decrease the likelihood for hospital readmission, concluded Dr. Bravata.


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Indiana University School of Medicine
Medicare
United States social security administration