Long-term outcomes in older patients with hyperglycemia on admission for ischemic stroke

Aims Evaluate the association between admission blood glucose (ABG) and mortality in older patients with or without diabetes mellitus (DM) hospitalized for acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Methods Observational data of patients ≥ 65 years, admitted for AIS between January 2011 and December 2013. ABG levels were classified to categories: ≤ 70 (low), 70–110 (normal), 111–140 (mildly elevated), 141–180 mg/dl (moderately elevated) and > 180 mg/dl (markedly elevated). Main outcome was all-cause mortality at the end-of-follow-up. Results Cohort included 854 patients, 347 with (mean ± SD age 80 ± 8, 44% male), and 507 without DM (mean ± SD age 78 ± 8, 53% male). There was a significant interaction between DM, ABG and mortality at end-of-follow-up (p ≤ 0.05). In patients without DM there was a dose-dependent association between ABG category and mortality: adjusted hazard ratios (95% CI) compared to normal ABG were 1.8 (1.2–2.8), 2.9 (1.6–5.2) and 4.5 (2.1–9.7), respectively, for mildly, moderately and markedly elevated ABG. In patients with DM there was no association between ABG and mortality. There was no interaction between DM, ABG and in-hospital mortality or length of stay (LOS). Irrespective of DM status, compared to normal ABG levels, increased ABG category was associated with increased in-hospital mortality: adjusted odds ratios were 3.9 (1.1–13.4), 7.0 (1.8–28.1), and 20.3 (4.6–89.6) with mildly, moderately and markedly elevated ABG, respectively. Mean LOS was 6 ± 5, 7 ± 8, 8 ± 7, and 8 ± 8 days, respectively. Conclusion In older patients without DM hospitalized for AIS, elevated ABG is associated with increased long-term mortality. Irrespective of DM status, elevated ABG was associated with increased in-hospital mortality and LOS.