Comparison of Long-Term Outcomes and Associated Factors between Younger and Older Rural Ischemic Stroke Patients

Introduction: The rise of ischemic stroke among young adults has stressed the need to understand their risk profiles and outcomes better. This study aimed to examine the five-year ischemic stroke recurrence and survival probability among young patients in rural Pennsylvania. Methods: This retrospective cohort study included first-time ischemic stroke patients from the Geisinger Health System between September 2003 and May 2014. The outcomes included all-cause mortality and ischemic stroke recurrence at five years. Kaplan-Meier estimator, cumulative incidence function, Cox proportional hazards model, and Cause-specific hazard model were used to examine the association of independent variables with the outcomes. Results: A total of 4459 first-time ischemic stroke patients were included in the study, with 664 (14.9%) patients in the 18−55 age group and 3795 (85.1%) patients in the >55 age group. In the 18−55 age group, the five-year survival probability was 87.2%, and the cumulative incidence of recurrence was 8%. Patients in the 18−55 age group had significantly lower hazard for all-cause mortality (HR = 0.37, 95% CI 0.29−0.46, p < 0.001), and non-significant hazard for five-year recurrence (HR = 0.81, 95% CI 0.58−1.12, p = 0.193) compared to the >55 age group. Chronic kidney disease was found to be associated with increased mortality in the 18−55 age group. Conclusion: In our rural population, younger ischemic stroke patients were at the same risk of long-term ischemic stroke recurrence as the older ischemic stroke patients. Identifying the factors and optimizing adequate long-term secondary prevention may reduce the risk of poor outcomes among younger ischemic stroke patients.