Discharge Is a Critical Time to Influence 10-Year Use of Secondary Prevention Therapies for Stroke

Background and Purpose—When optimally managed, patients with stroke are less likely to have further vascular events. We aimed to identify factors associated with optimal use of secondary prevention therapies in long-term survivors of stroke.

Methods—We carefully documented discharge medications at baseline and self-reported use of medications at annual follow-up in the Northeast Melbourne Stroke Incidence Study (NEMESIS). We defined optimal medication use when patients reported taking (1) antihypertensive agents and (2) statin and antithrombotic agents (ischemic stroke only). Logistic regression was used to assess factors associated with optimal medication use between 2 and 10 years after stroke. read more