Abstract 251: The Association Between Receipt of Healthcare Services and Post-stroke Hypertension Control [Session Title: Abstract Poster Session II]

We examined the receipt of health care services by patients in the one-year period following discharge for ischemic stroke.This was a retrospective cohort study of patients who were admitted for acute ischemic stroke at a Veterans Affairs hospital during year 2011 and who were discharged with a BP >140/90 mmHg. The following were reviewed: primary care visits; sub-specialty clinic visits; emergency department (ED) visits; hospitalizations; utilization of ancillary care (i.e., telehealth, pharmacy, nutrition services); medications upon discharge; adherence to medications and occurrence of recurrent stroke during the one-year post-discharge period.The cohort included 124 patients with an average age of 66.4 years (± standard deviation of10.3); 123 were male; 62.9% were white; diabetes mellitus was present in 32.5%; and 13.0% had history of coronary artery disease. The average BP at the time of discharge from the index stroke hospitalization was 149.5/82.6 (±11.3/9.8) mmHg. Only 38.7% of patients had an average BP over the one year period of <140/90 mmHg. The average number of primary care visits during this period was 2.8 (±1.6). The overwhelming majority of patients had at least one primary care visit (N=119, 95.9%) however the median time from discharge to the first primary clinic visit was 32 days (IQR 59). Forty four percent of patients were seen as outpatient by neurology, 19.4% by cardiology, 9.7% by nephrology, 5.7% by nutrition, 23.4% by clini...
Source: Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Session Title: Abstract Poster Session II Source Type: research