Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of patients who commenced head positioning within 4.5 hours of acute ischaemic stroke onset with initial National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score ≥7
| Baseline characteristics | Lying flat N=432 |
Sitting up N=435 |
P value |
| Age (years) | 73.1 (13.3) | 72.3 (13.5) | 0.35 |
| Male | 230 (53.2%) | 233 (53.6%) | 0.92 |
| Region, n (%) | 0.08 | ||
| Australia and UK | 294 (68.1) | 272 (62.5) | |
| China and Taiwan | 91 (21.1) | 107 (24.6) | |
| India and Sri Lanka | 13 (3.0) | 7 (1.6) | |
| South America | 34 (7.9) | 49 (11.3) | |
| Hypertension, n (%) | 288 (67.1) | 265 (60.9) | 0.06 |
| Previous stroke, n (%) | 89 (20.6) | 103 (23.7) | 0.28 |
| Atrial fibrillation, n (%) | 95 (22.2) | 94 (21.8) | 0.86 |
| Heart failure, n (%) | 36 (8.5) | 34 (7.9) | 0.77 |
| Diabetes mellitus, n (%) | 86 (20.0) | 73 (16.8) | 0.23 |
| Current smoker, n (%) | 60 (14.2) | 60 (14.0) | 0.91 |
| Aspirin use, n (%) | 141 (32.7) | 154 (35.4) | 0.40 |
| Anticoagulant use, n (%) | 53 (12.3) | 47 (10.9) | 0.50 |
| AIS category, n (%) | 0.58 | ||
| Large vessel | 133 (30.8) | 134 (30.8) | |
| Cardioembolic | 110 (25.5) | 101 (23.2) | |
| Lacunar | 59 (13.7) | 52 (12.0) | |
| Other | 130 (30.1) | 148 (34.0) | |
| NIHSS at admission | 13.0 (9.0 to 18.0) | 12.0 (9.0 to 18.0) | 0.34 |
| mRS, n (%) | 0.73 | ||
| 0 (no symptoms) | 251 (58.5) | 246 (56.8) | |
| 1 (no significant disability) | 73 (17.0) | 73 (16.9) | |
| 2 (slight disability) | 40 (9.3) | 47 (10.9) | |
| 3 (moderate disability) | 41 (9.6) | 42 (9.7) | |
| 4 (moderate/severe disability) | 22 (5.1) | 19 (4.4) | |
| 5 (severe disability) | 2 (0.5) | 6 (1.4) |
Data are n (%), mean (SD) and median (IQR).
AIS, acute ischaemic stroke; mRS, modified Rankin scale.