Predictors of Return to Work After Severe Stroke Identified

THURSDAY, April 21, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with ischemic stroke due to large vessel occlusion who undergo mechanical thrombectomy (MT), predictors against re-employment include female sex and persistent functional deficits, according to a study published online April 21 in Stroke.

Marianne Hahn, M.D., from the University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany, and colleagues examined return to paid work among stroke patients with large vessel occlusion treated with MT and identified predictors of returning to work. Data were included for 606 patients of the working population who survived large vessel occlusion at least 90 days past MT.

The researchers found that 35.6 percent of patients were re-employed at three months after MT. Independent negative predictors against re-employment included female sex, higher National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score 24 hours after MT, large vessel occlusion due to large-artery atherosclerosis, and longer hospital stay (odds ratios, 0.427, 0.775, 0.558, and 0.930, respectively). Excellent functional outcome at 90-day follow-up and combined treatment with intravenous thrombolysis were positive predictors favoring re-employment (odds ratios, 11.335 and 1.904, respectively). In multiple regression modeling, the predictive power of re-employment status was increased significantly over prediction by best single functional outcome parameter (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale 24 hours after MT ≤5: area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.887 versus 0.835).

"There is more to re-employment after mechanical thrombectomy than functional outcomes," Hahn said in a statement. "Targeted vocational and workplace rehabilitation interventions have been shown to improve rates of return to work."

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

Abstract/Full Text