Deriving clinical prediction rules from stroke outcome research.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Our purpose was to determine whether clinical prediction rules could be derived from current stroke outcome research. SUMMARY OF REPORT: We reviewed 92 articles on stroke outcome research to determine their suitability for implementation as a clinical prediction rule. Methodological problems in many of these studies made implementation of their results as a clinical prediction rule difficult. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of stroke outcome research as clinical prediction rules would be facilitated by description of patient population demographics; precise definitions of predictor and outcome measures; stratification of patients by stroke mechanism; use of adequate patient sample sizes; and description of the mathematical methods used, including coding schemes, cutpoints, beta coefficients, constant terms, and a priori probabilities.