OBJETIVE:

To measure the average number of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) by which each patient and different etiological subgroups of acute ischemic stroke contribute to the burden of the disease at hospital discharge and to consider DALYs as a normative outcome indicator of the quality of clinical care without reperfusion therapy.

CONTEXT AND TYPE OF STUDY:

Descriptive study of single retrospective cohort of patients over 18 years old with acute ischemic stroke who received clinical care without reperfusion therapy at the Hospital Universitario de la Samaritana - Bogotá - between May 2010 and June 2011.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Thirty nine patients with acute ischemic stroke were included, using criteria established by the Trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment. For each patient it was measured residual disability at hospital discharge using the modified Rankin scale (mRS) and as well as individual DALYs. Summary statistics were employed relating with variables and analysis performed. All comparisons were exploratory.

RESULTS:

Atherothrombotic subtype was the most frequent, followed by lacunar subtype. Highest frequency was in men, with a ratio of 3.9: 1. All survivors at discharge had some functional disability (mRS 1 to 5) with unimodal distribution of moderately severe disability (mRS 4) in 16 patients (41%). Hospital fatality of acute ischemic stroke (mRS 6) was 15.4%, in 35 patients, equivalent to 10 years lost due to premature death, on average 5.85 years lost per premature death during acute event. At hospital discharge, measurement of total DALYs provided by patients with acute ischemic stroke was 316.9 years, without statistically significant differences between subtypes of ischemia. On average, each patient contributed with 8.12 DALYs to the burden of acute ischemic stroke.

CONCLUSIONS:

At hospital discharge, the impact of health care of a first ischemic stroke on the burden of disease for each patient showed, on average 8.12 DALYs lost, measure which doubles the average of 3.99 DALYs lost per patient considered quality standard for comparative purposes of the present study.

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