Cause-specific mortality after stroke: relation to age, sex, stroke severity, and risk factors in a 10-year follow-up study.

We investigated cause-specific mortality in relation to age, sex, stroke severity, and cardiovascular risk factor profile in the Copenhagen Stroke Study cohort with 10 years of follow-up. In a Copenhagen community, all patients admitted to the hospital with stroke during 1992-1993 (n = 988) were registered on admission. Evaluation included stroke severity, computed tomography scan, and a cardiovascular risk profile. Cause of death within 10 years according to death certificate information was classified as stroke, heart/arterial disease, or nonvascular disease. Competing-risks analyses were performed by cause-specific Cox regression after multiple imputation of missing data, assuming that values were missing at random. Death was due to stroke in 310 patients (31%), to heart/arterial disease in 209 patients (21%), and to nonvascular diseases in 289 patients (29%); 180 patients were still alive after 10 years (18%). Stroke was the dominant cause of death during first year, with an absolute risk of 20.2% versus 5.2% for heart/arterial disease and 6.5% for nonvascular disease. The subsequent absolute risk of death per year was 2.8% for stroke, 4.5% for heart/arterial disease, and 5.2% for nonvascular disease. Death after stroke was associated with older age, male sex, greater stroke severity, and diabetes regardless of the cause of death. Previous stroke and hemorrhagic stroke were associated with death by stroke, ischemic heart disease was associated with death by heart/arterial disease and atrial fibrillation was associated with death by cardiovascular disease (stroke or heart/arterial disease). Hypertension, smoking, and alcohol consumption were not associated with cause-specific death.