Impact of stroke etiology on clinical symptoms and functional status.

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the differences between hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke patients in terms of clinical and functional features.

Methods: Medical records of the patients with stroke were analyzed retrospectively. The patients' demographic characteristics, stroke etiology, time interval after the event, comorbid illness and functional status were recorded.

Results: The stroke etiology was ischemia for 60 (36 male/24 female) (75%) patients, and haemorrhage for 20 (10 male/10 female) (25%) patients. Patients with ischemic stroke were classified as Group 1, and patients with hemorrhagic stroke were classified as Group 2. The mean age for Group 1 was 62.2±13.2, and 55.8±17.1 years for Group 2 (p=0.592). In Group 1, 33 (55%) patients, and in Group 2, 11 (55%) patients were primary school graduates (p=0.984). Localization of the lesion was in the right side for 33 (55%) patients in Group 1, and for 15 (75%) patients in Group 2 (p=0.372). The mean time interval after event for Group 1 was 7 months (0-211 days), and for Group 2 it was 14.5 (1-420 days) months (p=0.592). FIM score for Group 1 was 71.9±28.0, and 68.1±21.0 for Group 2 (p=0.575). The mean Brunnstrom score for upper extremity was 3.5 for Group 1, 3 for Group 2, (p=0.866), and for lower extremity, it was 3.5 for Group 1, and 3 for Group 2 (p=0.143). Spasticity was present in 45 (75%) patients in Group 1, and in 12 (60%) patients in Group 2 (p=0.311). In Group 1 51 (85%) of the patients and 18 (95%) patients had a history of comorbid disease (p=0.554).

Conclusion: Etiology of stroke is thought to be not effective on the patient's clinical and functional status.