Objectives: To investigate the differences in clinical backgrounds, especially weekly variations of stroke occurrence, between hyper-acute ischemic stroke patients with and without regular employment (RE), as well as the impact of RE on outcome.
Materials and methods: Symptomatic ischemic stroke patients with ≤4.5 h from onset to door were enrolled. First, we divided patients into the RE and non-RE group to analyze differences in clinical characteristics, especially relation between weekly variations of stroke occurrence and RE. Second, we divided the same patients into those with and without favorable outcomes (modified Rankin Scale score of 0 to 2 at 3 months from stroke onset) to analyze the impact of RE on outcomes.
Results: We screened 1,249 consecutive symptomatic ischemic stroke patients and included 377 patients (284 [75%] males; median age, 67 years). Of these patients, 248 (66%) were included in RE group. First, RE was independently associated with occurrence of stroke on Monday in reference to Sunday or a public holiday (OR 2.562, 95% CI 1.004-6.535, p = 0.049). Second, RE (OR 2.888 95% CI 1.378-6.050, p = 0.005) was a factor independently associated with a favorable outcome.
Conclusions: Patients with RE were more likely to have a hyper-acute ischemic stroke on Monday in reference to Sunday or a public holiday. However, RE before stroke onset appears to have a positive impact on outcome.
Keywords: Employment; Ischemic stroke; Prognosis; Socioeconomic factor; Stress; Stroke.
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