1149 SLEEP APNEA IS A SIGNIFICANT CO-MORBIDITY ONE MONTH FOLLOWING STROKE

Abstract

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a risk factor for new stroke, and affects over half of acute ischemic stroke patients. Preliminary data indicate that OSA may contribute to functional impairment following an acute stroke. Persistent OSA may also be a risk factor for the occurrence of recurrent stroke. However, the prevalence of OSA in the non-acute setting following stroke has not been well explored. We hypothesized that the risk for stroke would remain high in the non-acute post-stroke setting. Methods: Clinical data was gathered on 92 consecutive post-stroke outpatients at a specialty stroke clinic in an urban academic center between January and September 2016. The follow up dates were scheduled approximately 1 month after the initial admission for stroke. Patients completed the STOP-BANG OSA risk assessment tool at the time of visit. We also collected data on demographics, comorbidities, length of hospital stay, and type and severity of stoke. Results: Average age of the patients was 64.18 years. 51% of patients were male. The mean NIH stroke scale was 8.4. 70 patients (76.1%) were screened positive in the Stop-bang questionnaire. There were more males who were STOP-BANG positive (61% vs 18%) and they had a higher BMI (32.22 vs 26.27, p-0.003). The average age was similar (65.58 vs 59.72 years, p-value 0.07). Comorbidities including incidence of hypertension (78.6% vs 54.5%, p-0.05), diabetes (32.8% vs 22.7%, p-0.43), atrial fibrillation (18.5% vs 13.6%, p- 0.75), h/o smoking (48.6% vs 50%, p-1.00), heart failure (12.8% vs 4.5%, p-0.44) and h/o previous stroke (28.6% vs 9.1% p-value 0.08) were identical in both the groups. The severity of stroke (average NIH stroke scale 9.39 vs 5.4, p-0.42), length of stay (average 4.375 vs 2.94 days p-0.1194) and place of discharge (9 vs 6, patients were discharged to rehab p-1.00) were comparable. The incidence of embolic and hemorrhagic stroke was similar (27% vs 22% and 8% vs 4% respectively). Conclusion: The risk of OSA, remains high at one month following discharge from hospitalization for acute stroke. In this pilot study, only BMI and gender were independently associated with risk of having OSA.