Study on factorS affecting the occurrence of upper gaStrointeStinal bleeding in elderly acute Stroke patientS undergoing rehabilitation

To investigate factors affecting upper gastrointestinal bleeding (ugiB) in elderly first-time acute stroke patients undergoing rehabilitation. Participants and setting: Three hundred and thirty-one elderly first-time acute stroke patients (age ≥65 years) transferred to our rehabilitative ward from July 2002 to June 2009 were included in the study. Design: We divided patients into ugiB and non-ugiB groups. Demographic data and possible precipitating factors were analyzed. Results: sixty-eight (20.5%) patients experienced ugiB. The patients with ugiB were of older age (75.4 vs. 72.92 years, P = 0.003), had a longer rehabilitative ward stay (26.32 vs. 21 days, P = 0.002), more frequently had stroke-induced consciousness impairment (60.3 vs. 38%, P = 0.001), had a higher incidence of bilateral brain lesion (7.4 vs. 1.9%, P = 0.034), and more frequently used anticoagulants (17.6 vs. 9.1%, P = 0.044) than patients in the non-ugiB group. in multivariate logistic regression analysis, stroke-induced impaired consciousness (odds ratio: 2.806, 95% Ci = 1.588–4.957, P = 0.000) was the most important risk factor for ugiB. Conclusions: ugiB may prolong a patient’s length of stay in a rehabilitative ward. These identified factors may help clinicians identify risks of ugiB before it develops