Characteristics of 1-year survivors of ischaemic stroke who did and did not demonstrate functional improvement per the modified Rankin Scale between 3 months and 1-year poststroke
| Characteristic | Late improvement (n=319) | No late improvement (n=816) | P value | P value (age adjusted) |
| Age, mean (SD) | 70.1 (12.3) | 73.9 (12.7) | <0.0001* | |
| Sex: male (%) | 186 (58.3) | 404 (49.5) | 0.008* | 0.056 |
| Previous history (%) | ||||
| Myocardial infarction | 35 (11.0) | 113 (13.9) | 0.20 | 0.36 |
| Angina | 41 (12.9) | 157 (19.2) | 0.011* | 0.043* |
| Atrial fibrillation | 51 (16.0) | 146 (17.9) | 0.45 | 0.98 |
| Hypertension | 195 (61.1) | 523 (64.1) | 0.35 | 0.97 |
| Dyslipidaemia | 102 (32.0) | 285 (34.9) | 0.35 | 0.34 |
| Diabetes | 46 (14.4) | 122 (15.0) | 0.82 | 0.77 |
| Peripheral vascular disease | 21 (6.6) | 64 (7.8) | 0.47 | 0.55 |
| Stroke | 26 (8.2) | 96 (11.8) | 0.077 | 0.20 |
| Transient ischaemic attack | 34 (10.7) | 136 (16.7) | 0.011* | 0.030* |
| Smoking | 197 (61.8) | 465 (57.0) | 0.14 | 0.34 |
| Heart failure | 18 (5.6) | 70 (8.6) | 0.096 | 0.20 |
| Valvular heart disease | 29 (9.1) | 81 (9.9) | 0.67 | 0.93 |
| Cancer | 48 (15.1) | 117 (14.3) | 0.76 | 0.29 |
| Prestroke mRS >2 | 22 (6.9) | 150 (18.4) | <0.001* | 0.001* |
| Prestroke BI <20 | 31 (9.9) | 188 (24.2) | <0.001* | <0.001* |
| Initial NIHSS, mean (SD) | 3.8 (4.8) | 3.6 (4.7) | 0.59 | 0.33 |
| TOAST subtype (%) | ||||
| Lacunar (small vessel disease) | 75 (23.5) | 138 (16.9) | 0.010* | 0.031* |
| Cardioembolism | 73 (25.4) | 182 (24.6) | 0.79 | 0.51 |
| Large artery atherosclerosis | 32 (11.1) | 79 (10.7) | 0.84 | 0.87 |
| Undetermined | 76 (26.4) | 224 (30.2) | 0.22 | 0.12 |
| Unknown | 18 (6.3) | 79 (10.7) | 0.030* | 0.093 |
| Received thrombolysis (%) | 7 (2.4) | 9 (1.2) | 0.17 | 0.16 |
| Received in-hospital rehabilitation (%) | 108 (33.9) | 233 (28.9) | 0.08 | 0.19 |
| Length of stay for rehabilitation, median days (IQR) | 34.5 (13.5–73) | 35 (16–82) | 0.39 | 0.93 |
| Timing of in-hospital rehab completion, median days poststroke (IQR) | 24 (9–70) | 27 (7–85) | 0.85 | 0.72 |
| Received community-based rehabilitation (%) | 53 (16.6) | 125 (15.3) | 0.59 | 0.89 |
| No of sessions, median (IQR) | 4 (1–10) | 2 (1–6) | 0.053 | 0.23 |
| Timing of rehabilitation completion, median days poststroke (IQR) | 869 (229–1618) | 671 (228–1255) | 0.53 | 0.46 |
| Received hospital-based or community-based rehab between 3 and 12 months (%) | 42 (13.2) | 72 (8.8) | 0.029* | 0.024* |
| 3 month mRS, median (IQR) | 2 (2–3) | 2 (1–3) | <0.0001* | <0.0001* |
| mRS=1 (%) | 66 (20.7) | 350 (42.9) | ||
| mRS=2 (%) | 127 (39.8) | 169 (20.7) | ||
| mRS=3 (%) | 58 (18.2) | 165 (20.2) | ||
| mRS=4 (%) | 52 (16.3) | 87 (10.7) | ||
| mRS=5 (%) | 16 (5.0) | 45 (5.5) | ||
| Late mRS improvement timing (%)† | ||||
| 3–6 months poststroke | 209 (65.5) | 0 | <0.0001* | |
| 6–12 months poststroke | 124 (38.9) | 0 | <0.0001* | |
| Recurrent.stroke within 5 years (%) | 52 (16.3) | 118 (14.5) | 0.44 | 0.27 |
| Any recurrent vascular event within 5 years (%) | 86 (27.0) | 213 (26.1) | 0.77 | 0.53 |
| Poststroke depression (%) | 81 (25.4) | 219 (26.8) | 0.62 | 0.55 |
We compared ordinal/continuous variables using the Wilcoxon rank-sum (Mann-Whitney U) and dichotomous variables using χ2 tests.
Only patients with 3-month MRS >0 (capable of showing further improvement) are included.
*Indicated the significant differences (p<0.05).
†14 patients showed improvement on the mRS both between 3 and 6 months and further between 6 and 12 months.
BI, Barthel Index; mRS, modified Rankin Scale; NIHSS, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale; TOAST, Trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment.