Demographic and clinical characteristics for patients discharged after stroke or TIA (2003 to 2013), with no adverse events for 90 days, and separately for those with stroke versus TIA as the entry event
| Characteristic | Event type; no. (%) of patients | Standardized difference* | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stroke or TIA n = 26 366 | Stroke n = 15 950 | TIA n = 10 416 | ||
| Age†, yr, median (IQR) | 72 (60–80) | 72 (60–80) | 72 (61–81) | 0.03 |
| Sex, female | 12 360 (46.9) | 7127 (44.7) | 5233 (50.2) | 0.11 |
| Stroke type | ||||
| Stroke | 15 950 (60.5) | 15 950 (100.0) | – | |
| TIA | 10 416 (39.5) | – | 10 416 (100.0) | – |
| Clinical comorbidity | ||||
| Prior stroke | 3715 (14.1) | 2175 (13.6) | 1540 (14.8) | 0.03 |
| Prior acute MI | 2030 (7.7) | 1334 (8.4) | 696 (6.7) | 0.06 |
| Congestitve heart failure | 3563 (13.5) | 2295 (14.4) | 1268 (12.2) | 0.07 |
| Hypertension | 19 521 (74.0) | 12 282 (77.0) | 7239 (69.5) | 0.17 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 7741 (29.4) | 5004 (31.4) | 2737 (26.3) | 0.11 |
| Hyperlipidemia | 5232 (19.8) | 2964 (18.6) | 2268 (21.8) | 0.08 |
| Atrial fibrillation | 4591 (17.4) | 3254 (20.4) | 1337 (12.8) | 0.20 |
| Canadian Neurological Scale Group† (19) | ||||
| Mild (≥ 8) | 22 364 (86.3) | 12 355 (78.6) | 10 009 (98.1) | 0.64 |
| Moderate (5–7) | 2531 (9.8) | 2374 (15.1) | 157 (1.5) | 0.51 |
| Severe (0–4) | 1021 (3.9) | 983 (6.3) | 38 (0.4) | 0.33 |
| Admission to registry hospital | 15 901 (60.3) | 13 153 (82.5) | 2748 (26.4) | 1.36 |
| tPA on admission | 2275 (8.6) | 2255 (14.1) | 20 (0.2) | 0.56 |
| Discharge medications | ||||
| Antiplatelet agents | 21 348 (81.0) | 12 907 (80.9) | 8441 (81.0) | 0.01 |
| Warfarin | 4238 (16.1) | 3157 (19.8) | 1081 (10.4) | 0.27 |
| All anticoagulants | 5422 (20.6) | 4215 (26.4) | 1207 (11.6) | 0.39 |
| Antithrombotics | 24 192 (91.8) | 14 983 (93.9) | 9209 (88.4) | 0.20 |
| CEA or CAS‡ | ||||
| At 1 yr | 229 (0.9) | 137 (0.9) | 92 (0.9) | 0.01 |
| At 3 yr | 278 (1.3) | 170 (1.3) | 108 (1.3) | 0.01 |
| At 5 yr | 239 (1.5) | 138 (1.4) | 101 (1.8) | 0.01 |
Note: CAS = carotid artery stenting, CEA = carotid endarterectomy, IQR = interquartile range, MI = myocardial infarction, TIA = transient ischemic attack, tPA = tissue plasminogen activator.
↵* The standardized difference, used for subgroup comparisons, is the difference in means or proportions for matched pairs divided by the standard error; an imbalance was defined as an absolute value greater than 0.20 (small effect size).
↵† For this characteristic, complete data were available for 25 916 of the patients: 15 712 in the group with stroke and 10 204 in the group with TIA.
↵‡ The percentages for longitudinal analyses are based on the denominator of subcohorts with complete 1-, 3- or 5-year follow-up. The denominator at 1 year was the same as the full cohort: 26 366 total (15 950 with stroke and 10 416 with TIA). At 3 years, the subcohort denominator was 21 548 total (13 287 with stroke and 8261 with TIA), and at 5 years the subcohort denominator was 15 571 total (9894 with stroke and 5677 with TIA).