Top Ten Things To Know Relationship of National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale to 30-Day Mortality in Medicare Beneficiaries With Acute Ischemic Stroke

1. Get With the Guidelines (GWTG) data using Medicare beneficiaries with AIS were used for this analysis. 2. 33,102 patients were included in this analysis from 404 GWTG hospitals. 3. The NIHSS quantitatively evaluates the neurologic deficits resulting from AIS. The scores (0-42, with 0=normal) address 15 areas that can be affected by AIS. 4. The NIHSS score can be used at the patient’s bedside by members of the healthcare team. 5. The outcome in this study was all-cause mortality in the 30 days from admission. 6. The NIHSS was able to distinguish 30-day mortality risk for acute AIS patients older than 65 years regardless of other available clinical information. 7. For 30-day mortality and the NIHSS scores, the relationship was almost linear. 8. Based on the scores, the risk for 30-day mortality is divided into low, medium, and high risk and demonstrates that the stroke severity is strongly related to 30-day mortality risk. 9. The Results: