Predictors of Fatal Outcome after Incident of Stroke among Patients from Three Hospitals in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Objective This study investigated the predictors of stroke fatal outcome after a one year follow-up.MethodsThis was a historic cohort of 166 stroke patients from three hospitals in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Data were collected from patients as they were admitted. Vital outcome information was collected throughout the follow-up period. The Cox proportional hazard modeling was used to measure predictors.Results The patientsu2019 median age was 59 (IQR: 52-68) years. The majority of them were male (65.1%) and known hypertensive (79.5%). At the admission, the median values of glycaemia, Glasgow score, systolic and diastolic blood pressure were 120 (IQR: 91-172) mg/dl, 14 (10-14), 160 (IQR: 130-180) mmHg and 90 (IQR: 80-100) mmHg, respectively. Around 35% patients died within the one year period of follow-up; the median duration between the occurrence of stroke and death was 37 (14-155.5) days. An early disorder of consciousness (Glasgow score u02c213) multiplies by 2.5 the risk of death (HR: 2.46, 95% CI [1.3-4.6], p = 0.005) and the glycemia level at day 7 greater than or equal to 180 mg / dl increases the risk of death by 2.4 times (HR: 2.4, 95% CI [1.03 -5.7], p = 0.04).ConclusionHyperglycemia in the acute phase of stroke and early consciousness disorder are predictors of fatal prognosis of stroke, easy to detect in routine clinical practice. They should therefore be used to identify patients with potentially poor prognosis in the short and in the long term for appropriate care.