Cognitive impairment predicts poststroke death in long-term follow-up.

Background: Poststroke global cognitive decline and dementia have been related to poor long-term survival. Whether deficits in specific cognitive domains are associated with long-term survival in patients with ischaemic stroke is not known in detail.

Methods: Patients with acute stroke subjected to comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation were included in the study (n = 409) and followed up for up to 12 years.

Results: In Kaplan-Meier analysis, impairments in following cognitive domains predicted poor poststroke survival (estimated years): executive functions (48.2%) (5.8 vs 10.1 years, p<0.0001), memory (59.9%) (6.8 vs 9.3 years, p = 0.009), language (28.9%) (5.3 vs 8.6 years, p = 0.004) and visuospatial/constructional abilities (55.2%) (5.6 vs 10.1 years, p<0.0001). Low Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE)
Conclusions: In patients with ischaemic stroke, cognitive impairment, particularly in executive functions, and visuospatial/constructional abilities relate to poor survival.