Association of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Race on Readmissions After Stroke

There is limited research on outcomes of patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who also develop stroke, particularly regarding racial disparities. Our goal was to determine whether PTSD is associated with the risk of hospital readmission after stroke and whether racial disparities existed.

The analytical sample consisted of all veterans receiving care in the Veterans Health Administration who were identified as having a new stroke requiring inpatient admission based on the International Classification of Diseases codes. PTSD and comorbidities were identified using the International Classification of Diseases codes and given the date of first occurrence. The retrospective cohort data were obtained from the Veterans Affairs Corporate Data Warehouse. The main outcome was any readmission to Veterans Health Administration with a stroke diagnosis. The hypothesis that PTSD is associated with readmission after stroke was tested using Cox regression adjusted for patient characteristics including age, sex, race, PTSD, smoking status, alcohol use, and comorbidities treated as time-varying covariates.

Our final cohort consisted of 93 651 patients with inpatient stroke diagnosis and no prior Veterans Health Administration codes for stroke starting from 1999 with follow-up through August 6, 2022. Of these patients, 12 916 (13.8%) had comorbid PTSD. Of the final cohort, 16 896 patients (18.0%) with stroke were readmitted. Our fully adjusted model for readmission found an interaction between African American veterans and PTSD with a hazard ratio of 1.09 ([95% CI, 1.00-1.20] P=0.047). In stratified models, PTSD has a significant hazard ratio of 1.10 ([95% CI, 1.02-1.18] P=0.01) for African American but not White veterans (1.05 [95% CI, 0.99-1.11]; P=0.10).

Among African American veterans who experienced stroke, preexisting PTSD was associated with increased risk of readmission, which was not significant among White veterans. This study highlights the need to focus on high-risk groups to reduce readmissions after stroke.