Inpatient statin use predicts improved ischemic stroke discharge disposition

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Medicine
• Neurology
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Ischemic stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability.
• Discharge disposition significantly impacts patient recovery and healthcare resource utilization.
• Statins are widely used for cardiovascular risk reduction, but their specific role in stroke recovery is an area of ongoing research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between statin use and discharge disposition following ischemic stroke.
• To evaluate if pre-stroke and in-hospital statin use influences where patients are discharged.
• To assess the impact of statin withdrawal on stroke patient discharge outcomes.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective analysis of 12,689 ischemic stroke patients over seven years.
• Generalized ordinal logistic regression was employed to analyze discharge disposition.
• Instrumental variable methods, including grouped-treatment and last prior treatment analyses, were used to address potential confounding factors.

Main Results:

• Statin users demonstrated a significantly higher likelihood of discharge to home or a healthcare institution.
• Patients experiencing statin withdrawal showed a reduced probability of favorable discharge outcomes.
• Instrumental variable analyses confirmed that higher inpatient statin use probability correlated with better discharge to home outcomes.

Conclusions:

• Statin use is strongly associated with improved discharge disposition after ischemic stroke.
• Maintaining statin therapy during and after stroke may be crucial for optimizing patient recovery and functional outcomes.
• These findings support the continued use of statins in patients with ischemic stroke.