Comparison of Clinical Characteristics and Medical Resource Uses Between Young and Elderly Patients With Ischemic Stroke

Background/Purposes: The prevalence of stroke patients below the age of 45 is growing in the recent decade. These young stroke patients might have different clinical characteristics with different amount of medical resource use from elderly ones. The aim of this study was to disclose the difference of clinical characteristics and hospitalization fees between young and elderly stroke patients. Methods: A retrospective inpatient study in a medical center was conducted. From January 1999 to June 2007, the electronic records of 108 young (age, 39.1 ± 5.9 years) and 1949 elderly (age, 76.2 ± 6.6 years) patients with ischemic stroke were analyzed. Designating the nonbrain-related diagnosis codes as comorbidities and complications (CCs), we assessed the total hospitalization fee and its predictor of outcomes, the CCs prevalence, and the gender difference in young stroke patients. Results: In young stroke patients, we found that hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia were the major comorbidities; and the prevalence of hypertension (p= 0.003) and hyperlipidemia (p= 0.020) were significantly higher in men; and that the presence of pneumonia was accounted for 33.8% of the total hospitalization fees. Young stroke patients had significantly less total length of stay (p= 0.001) and total hospitalization fee (p= 0.001) compared with the elderly ones. Additionally, young stroke patients had significantly lower prevalence of most CCs, except hypertension and hyperlipidemia. Conclusion: Young stroke patients had different clinical characteristics from elderly ones, and the presence of pneumonia was the major predictor for the increased hospitalization fees.