Ann Rehabil Med.  2016 Aug;40(4):675-681. 10.5535/arm.2016.40.4.675.

Length of Hospital Stay After Stroke: A Korean Nationwide Study

• Kang JH
• Bae HJ
• Choi YA
• Lee SH
• Shin HI

• KMID: 2356653
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5535/arm.2016.40.4.675

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
To investigate the length of hospital stay (LOS) after stroke using the database of the Korean Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service.
METHODS
We matched the data of patients admitted for ischemic stroke onset within 7 days in the Departments of Neurology of 12 hospitals to the data from the database of the Korean Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service. We recruited 3,839 patients who were hospitalized between January 2011 and December 2011, had a previous modified Rankin Scale of 0, and no acute hospital readmission after discharge. The patients were divided according to the initial National Institute of Health Stroke Scale score (mild, ≤5; moderate, >5 and ≤13; severe, >13); we compared the number of hospitals that admitted patients and LOS after stroke according to severity, age, and sex.
RESULTS
The mean LOS was 115.6±219.0 days (median, 19.4 days) and the mean number of hospitals was 3.3±2.1 (median, 2.0). LOS was longer in patients with severe stroke (mild, 65.1±146.7 days; moderate, 223.1±286.0 days; and severe, 313.2±336.8 days). The number of admitting hospitals was greater for severe stroke (mild, 2.9±1.7; moderate, 4.3±2.6; and severe, 4.5±2.4). LOS was longer in women and shorter in patients less than 65 years of age.
CONCLUSION
LOS after stroke differed according to the stroke severity, sex, and age. These results will be useful in determining the appropriate LOS after stroke in the Korean medical system.

Keyword

Length of stay; Stroke; Database; Patient acuity

MeSH Terms

Female
Humans
Insurance, Health
Length of Stay*
Neurology
Patient Acuity
Patient Readmission
Stroke*

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Flow chart of subject recruitment. mRS, modified Rankin Scale.

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  Fig. 2 Length of hospital stay (LOS) according to the severity of stroke. The number of patients and length of hospital stay according to the stroke severity. (A) mild group, (B) moderate group, (C) severe group, and (D) total group. The dashed and solid line shows the average and median value LOS, respectively.

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