title: Anemia increases the mortality risk in patients with stroke: A meta-analysis of cohort studies.
abstract: The impact of anemia on the outcome of patients with stroke remains inconsistent. We performed a meta-analysis of cohort studies to assess the mortality risk in stroke patients with and without anemia. Systematic searches were conducted in the PubMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Web of Science and Wanfang databases to identify relevant studies from inception to November 2015. The estimated odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval was pooled. subgroup analyses and sensitivity analyses were also conducted. We used Begg's funnel plot and Egger's test to detect the potential publication bias. Thirteen cohort studies with a total of 19239 patients with stroke were included in this meta-analysis. The heterogeneity among studies was slight (I(2) = 59.0%, P = 0.031). The results from a random-effect model suggest that anemia is associated with an increased mortality risk in patients with stroke (adjusted odds ratio = 1.39, 95% confidence interval: 1.22-1.58, P < 0.001). The subgroup analyses are consistent with the total results. This meta-analysis of 13 cohort studies finds that anemia increases the mortality risk in patients with stroke. Future studies should perform longer follow-up to confirm this finding and explore its possible mechanism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province 410008, China.
authors.forename: Zhanzhan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province 410008, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: The Third Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guandong Province 510000, China.
authors.forename: Yanyan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of orthopedic, Xiangya Hospital, Central-south University, Changsha, Hunan Province 410008, China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of public health, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province 410078, China.
authors.forename: Lizhang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000740:Anemia / Q000150:complications* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D015331:Cohort Studies; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D015996:Survival Rate