Six-year survival and causes of death among stroke patients in Korea

Background: Stroke is the second leading cause of death in Korea but long-term survival of Korean stroke patients has not been studied. Thus, we examined 6-year survival and causes of death in a nationally representative inpatient sample. Methods: Between January 2000 and March 2000 in 152 sample hospitals, 4,299 first-ever stroke patients were identified and followed-up for vital status until December 2005. Mortality and mortality-related factors were evaluated by the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazard regression analysis. Results: Ischemic stroke was the most common subtype (62.9%), followed by intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH, 21.2%), and subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH, 6.4%). Six-year mortality was estimated at 37.1% for all strokes, 37.2% for ischemic, 41.0% for ICH, and 29.2% for SAH. Common causes of death were stroke (58.2%), malignancies (10.3%), other cardiovascular diseases (7.7%), and diabetes (6.8%). Six-year mortality was associated with old age (hazard ratio 1.70 per 10 years, 95% CI 1.62-1.78), male sex (1.29, 1.16-1.43), subtypes of ICH (1.30, 1.15-1.48) and SAH (1.43, 1.14-1.80), longer hospital admission (1.01 per 10 days, 1.00-1.03), and loss of consciousness (1.32, 1.13-1.55). Conclusions: More than 60% of Korean patients with first-ever stroke survived to 6 years. Major causes of death were stroke, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes.