Prognostic importance of weight change on short-term functional outcome in acute ischemic stroke

Background: Controversy exists regarding the question of whether weight change decreases or increases the risk of mortality. Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic importance of weight change on short-term outcomes in acute ischemic stroke patients. Methods: A total of 654 patients with acute ischemic stroke were enrolled in this study from March 2010 to May 2013. We assessed the weight change of each participant between admission and discharge from the Department of Neurology. Weight change was defined as change ≥0·05kg/baseline body mass index unit. We evaluated the short-term outcomes using a modified Rankin Scale at three-months after the onset of a stroke. Results: Among the 654 patients, 35·2% were included in the weight-change group. Weight loss occurred in 24·6% of the participants during the hospital stay following the stroke, which lasted an average of nine-days. Compared with the weight-stable group, the pronounced weight-loss group had a higher risk of unfavorable outcomes (odds ratio 2·43; 95% confidence interval 1·12-5·25). Conclusions: Short-term weight loss after stroke appears to be more common than we expected, and our results suggest that it is associated with unfavorable functional outcomes. Therefore, clinical nutrition should be considered as a component of medical treatment and weight loss should be monitored as an indicator of malnutrition.