Eighteen-year trends in stroke mortality and the prognostic influence of comorbidity

Objectives: To examine 18-year trends in short-term and long-term stroke mortality and the prognostic influence of comorbidity.

Methods: We conducted a nationwide population-based cohort study. Using the Danish National Registry of Patients, covering all Danish hospitals, we identified all 219,354 patients with a first-time hospitalization for stroke during 1994–2011. We computed standardized 30-day, 1-year, and 5-year mortality by sex. Comorbidity categories were defined by Charlson Comorbidity Index scores of 0 (none), 1 (moderate), 2 (severe), and 3 or more (very severe). Calendar periods of diagnosis (1994–1998, 1999–2003, 2004–2008, and 2009–2011) and comorbidity categories were compared by means of mortality rate ratios based on Cox regression. Read More