Educational History Is an Independent Predictor of Cognitive Deficits and Long-Term Survival in Postacute Patients With Mild to Moderate Ischemic Stroke

Background and Purpose—Poststroke cognitive decline and white matter lesions (WML) are related to poor poststroke survival. Whether cognitive reserve as reflected by educational history associates with cognitive decline, recurrent strokes, and poststroke mortality independent of WML is not known. Methods—A total of 486 consecutive acute mild/moderate ischemic stroke patients subjected to comprehensive neuropsychological assessment (n=409) and magnetic resonance imaging (n=395) 3 months poststroke were included in the study and followed-up for up to 12 years. Odds ratios (OR) for logistic and hazard ratios for Cox regression analyses are reported (OR and hazard ratio ≤1 indicates a beneficial effect). Results—Long educational history (per tertile) was associated with lower frequency of executive dysfunction in models adjusted for age, sex, marital status, and stroke severity (OR, 0.75; P<0.05) but not when adding WML as a covariate. In contrast, educational history was independently associated with less me...