Six-year survival and causes of death among stroke patients in Korea.
BACKGROUND
Stroke is the second leading cause of death in Korea but long-term survival of Korean stroke patients has not been studied. Thus, we examined 6-year survival and causes of death in a nationally representative inpatient sample.


METHODS
Between January 2000 and March 2000 in 152 sample hospitals, 4,299 first-ever stroke patients were identified and followed-up for vital status until December 2005. Mortality and mortality-related factors were evaluated by the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazard regression analysis.


RESULTS
Ischemic stroke was the most common subtype (62.9%), followed by intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH, 21.2%), and subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH, 6.4%). Six-year mortality was estimated at 37.1% for all strokes, 37.2% for ischemic, 41.0% for ICH, and 29.2% for SAH. Common causes of death were stroke (58.2%), malignancies (10.3%), other cardiovascular diseases (7.7%), and diabetes (6.8%). Six-year mortality was associated with old age (hazard ratio 1.70 per 10 years, 95% CI 1.62-1.78), male sex (1.29, 1.16-1.43), subtypes of ICH (1.30, 1.15-1.48) and SAH (1.43, 1.14-1.80), longer hospital admission (1.01 per 10 days, 1.00-1.03), and loss of consciousness (1.32, 1.13-1.55).


CONCLUSIONS
More than 60% of Korean patients with first-ever stroke survived to 6 years. Major causes of death were stroke, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes.
Kim
Hyeon Chang
HC
Department of Preventive Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Choi
Dong Phil
DP
Ahn
Song Vogue
SV
Nam
Chung Mo
CM
Suh
Il
I
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002423:Cause of Death / Q000639:trends; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000639:trends; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012737:Sex Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000145:classification / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality*; D015996:Survival Rate / Q000639:trends