TABLE 1.
Baseline characteristics by categories of SBP
| SBP (mmHg) | |||||
| Variable | Overall | <120 | 120–139 | ≥140 | P value |
| Number of patients | 11083 | 795 (7.2) | 2393 (21.6) | 7895 (71.2) | |
| Age (years) | 68 (13.8) | 65 (15.5) | 66 (14.6) | 69 (13.2) | <0.0001 |
| Female | 4423 (39.9) | 300 (37.7) | 888 (37.1) | 3235 (41.0) | 0.0012 |
| Region | <0.0001 | ||||
| Australia and UK | 4754 (42.9) | 390 (49.1) | 971 (40.6) | 3393 (43.0) | |
| China and Taiwan | 4652 (42.0) | 245 (30.8) | 1056 (44.1) | 3351 (42.4) | |
| South America | 910 (8.2) | 83 (10.4) | 179 (7.5) | 645 (8.2) | |
| India and Sri Lanka | 770 (6.9) | 77 (9.7) | 187 (7.8) | 506 (6.4) | |
| Clinical features | |||||
| Final pathological type of stroke | <0.0001 | ||||
| AIS | 9467 (85.6) | 675 (85.1) | 2086 (87.4) | 6701 (85.1) | |
| ICH | 930 (8.4) | 39 (4.9) | 123 (5.1) | 768 (9.8) | |
| Uncertain | 696 (6.0) | 79 (10.0) | 178 (7.5) | 405 (5.1) | |
| Severity of neurological impairment, NIHSS scorea | 4 (2–8) | 5 (2–10) | 4 (2–8) | 4 (2–8) | 0.0002 |
| Score ≥15 | 1207 (11.1) | 112 (14.3) | 240 (10.2) | 855 (11.0) | 0.0079 |
| SBP (mmHg) | 151 (136–171) | 110 (105–116) | 130 (125–134) | 162 (150–180) | <0.0001 |
| DBP (mmHg) | 85 (76–97) | 70 (61–75) | 80 (70–84) | 90 (80–100) | <0.0001 |
| Time from onset (h) | 7.5 (2.3–26.8) | 6.4 (2.0–25.3) | 8.9 (2.5–31.8) | 7.2 (2.3–25.9) | <0.0001 |
| Medical history | |||||
| Hypertension | 7148 (64.7) | 382 (48.2) | 1310 (54.8) | 5456 (69.3) | <0.0001 |
| Current treatment | 5616 (50.7) | 322 (40.6) | 1055 (44.1) | 4238 (53.7) | 0.0007 |
| Number of antihypertensive agents | 1 (1–2) | 1 (1–2) | 1 (1–2) | 1 (1–2) | 0.0030 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 2650 (24.0) | 159 (20.1) | 546 (22.9) | 1945 (24.7) | 0.0054 |
| Atrial fibrillation | 1189 (10.8) | 112 (14.1) | 287 (12.0) | 790 (10.1) | 0.0002 |
| Coronary disease | 1540 (14.0) | 141 (17.8) | 361 (15.1) | 1038 (13.2) | 0.0003 |
| Heart failure | 413 (3.8) | 53 (6.7) | 105 (4.4) | 255 (3.3) | <0.0001 |
| Previous stroke | 2605 (23.6) | 189 (23.9) | 571 (23.9) | 1845 (23.4) | 0.8779 |
| Smoking | 2124 (19.4) | 177 (22.7) | 519 (21.9) | 1428 (18.3) | <0.0001 |
| High level of premorbid function (mRS 0–1)b | 8733 (78.9) | 603 (75.9) | 1860 (77.8) | 6270 (79.5) | 0.0205 |
| Hypercholesterolemia | 2731 (24.6) | 215 (27.3) | 591 (24.8) | 1925 (24.5) | 0.2175 |
| COPD/emphysema | 406 (3.7) | 37 (4.7) | 78 (3.3) | 291 (3.7) | 0.1809 |
| Medications | |||||
| Aspirin/other antiplatelet | 5398 (48.7) | 387 (48.7) | 1249 (52.2) | 3762 (47.7) | 0.0005 |
| Anticoagulation | 951 (8.6) | 87 (11.0) | 223 (9.3) | 641 (8.1) | 0.0088 |
| Statin/other lipid lowering | 2295 (20.7) | 188 (23.6) | 501 (20.9) | 1606 (20.3) | 0.2219 |
Data are mean (SD), median (IQR), and n (%). Analyses were ANOVA test for normally distributed variables, Kruskal--Wallis test for skewed continuous variables, and chi-squared test for categorical variables. AIS, acute ischemic stroke; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; ICH, intracerebral hemorrhage; mRS, modified Rankin scale; NIHSS, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale; UK, United Kingdom.
NIHSS is a measure of neurological impairment caused by a stroke, composed of 11 items, each of which scores a specific ability from 0 up to 4. For each item, a score of 0 typically indicates normal function in that specific ability, whereas a higher score is indicative of some level of impairment. The individual scores from each item are summed in order to calculate a patient's total NIHSS score, ranging from 0 to 42.
The mRS represents a global, seven-level assessment of disability, in which score of 0 or 1 indicate good function without or with symptoms but no disability, score of 2 indicates slight disability, scores of 3--5 indicate increasing levels of disability (and dependency), and a score of 6 indicates death.