The Obesity Paradox in Stroke: Impact on Mortality and Short-term Readmission

Background The aim of the present study was to assess the association of obesity with the mortality of hospitalized patients with acute stroke and the risk of readmission in less than 30 days. Methods A retrospective chart review of a cohort of consecutive patients admitted with stroke as the primary reason for discharge in Spain between January 1, 2005, and December 31, 2011, was performed. Patients with a diagnosis of obesity were identified. The mortality and readmittance indexes of obese patients were compared against the subpopulation without theses diagnosis. Results A total of 201,272 stroke admittances were analyzed, and 14,047 (7.0%) diagnosis of obesity were identified. In-hospital global mortality reached 14.9%, and readmittance risk was 5.9%. Obese patients showed a lower in-hospital mortality risk (odds ratio [OR], .71; 95% confidence interval [CI], .67-.76) and early readmittance risk (OR, .89; 95% CI, .82-.96) than the nonobese even after adjusting for possible confounding factors. Conclusions Obesity in those hospitalized for stroke is associated with reduced in-hospital mortality risk and early readmittance.