Risk of death better predicted using stroke severity risk models

Predicting a patient’s risk of death is more accurate when the severity of a stroke is included in a hospital’s 30-day mortality model, a new study claims.

According to researchers, improvements in calculating outcomes at 30 days are noticeable if risk assessments factor in ischemic stroke severity.

The findings are the result of an investigation that took place in the US and focused on those patients using Medicare.

Researchers wrote: “There is increasing interest in reporting risk-standardised outcomes for Medicare beneficiaries hospitalised with acute ischemic stroke, but whether it is necessary to include adjustment for initial stroke severity has not been well studied.”

The study has significant implications for healthcare providers dealing with strokes worldwide and indicates that more comprehensive mortality models are beneficial.

Hospitals in which patients are identified as being at a particularly high risk of death may use the data from the assessment to understand how to improve their approach to stroke.

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