Family history associated with improved functional outcome following ischemic stroke

BACKGROUND: Few studies to date have documented genetic influences on outcomes of hospitalization among patients with acute ischemic stroke. OBJECTIVE: To assess the influence of the family history of stroke on in-hospital mortality and hospitalization outcome among patients having acute ischemic stroke. METHODS: The medical records for 916 consecutive adult patients admitted for acute ischemic stroke during 12/1/2001-2/28/2002 at 34 randomly selected Georgia hospitals were centrally abstracted. The patients were classified as having a positive family history of stroke or not. The two groups were compared on risk factors, comorbidities, admission characteristics, hospital disposition status, and outcome measures. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess the independent contributions of important variables identified by univariate screening. RESULTS: A positive family history of stroke was significantly associated with a decreased frequency of medical history of coronary artery disease, a decreased frequency of medical history of congestive heart failure, an increased frequency of medical history of hypertension, and younger age among patients with acute ischemic stroke who were 18 years or older. The family history was not associated with in-hospital mortality (odds ratio 1.49, 95% confidence interval 0.79-2.80 for incident cases). The interaction of family history and age was significantly associated with discharge destination and discharge functional status. CONCLUSIONS: Preliminary analyses found associations between family history and stroke outcome. The role of a family history of stroke in stroke outcome merits further study.