title: [Length of hospital stay, mortality and destination after discharge of stroke patients].
abstract: Stroke remains an important cause of death, hospitalisation and chronic disability in developed populations. This study aimed to evaluate patients characteristics at admission that relate to length of hospital stay, mortality and destination of stroke patients. We studied 255 consecutive stroke patients admitted to internal medicine wards of Hospital São João, Porto. In-hospital mortality was 5.5%. In a multivariate analysis, we found male sex, paralysis in affected limb and intracerebral haemorrhage as significantly associated with longer hospitalisation. None of the studied characteristics was found to be independently associated with mortality. Previously living at an institution was significantly associated with discharge to an institution. This study showed that admission characteristics may provide relevant information to assess short term prognosis and to identify patients with special difficulties and needs.
authors.affiliation: Serviço de Higiene e Epidemiologia, Faculdade de Medicina do Porto, Porto.
authors.forename: Sofia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: Fátima B
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Coelho
authors.forename: Henrique
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Barros
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010351:Patient Discharge; D011379:Prognosis; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D020521:Stroke / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy