The effect of hemiplegia/hemiparesis, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension on hospital length of stay after stroke

OBJECTIVE: To determine and analyze the variables of age, hemiplegia/hemiparesis, diabetes mellitus (DM), and hypertension (HTN) on the hospital length of stay (LoS) in the stroke rehabilitation unit.

METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study of all patients who completed the stroke rehabilitation program at Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Humanitarian City, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between January 2007 and October 2010. Admission records of 687 patients were identified with the mean age of 61.7+/-14.7 (mean +/- SD) years, and were included in this study. The patients were divided into 5 groups based on their age (30-80 years). Patients aged </=29 and >/=81 years were excluded due to small sample sizes. Mixed hemispheric patients were also excluded.

RESULTS: The frequency of the stroke occurrence was highest in the 61-70 age group, and lowest in the 30-40 age group. Compared with left hemiplegia/hemiparesis (43.5 days), patients with right hemiplegia/hemiparesis (47.3 days) had significantly higher LoS (p=0.042). Compared with stroke alone, in patients with stroke combined with DM and HTN the LoS was significantly higher in right (p=0.003) and left hemiplegia/hemiparesis (p=0.046) patients.

CONCLUSION: Right hemiplegia/hemiparesis and combined comorbidity (DM + HTN) has a significant effect on LoS stroke patients; age also had a similar effect.