Abstract WMP36: Pain In Stroke Patients At Hospital Discharge

Introduction: Persistent pain after stroke significantly impacts patients’ function, ability to participate in rehabilitation, and quality of life. We examined characteristics of stroke survivors discharged with pain. Methods: The sample consisted of 824 stroke patients admitted to a large, urban university based acute care facility in Texas with a completed pain assessment (numeric rating scale or Behavior Pain Scale) at discharge. Descriptive analysis of means and frequency distributions was conducted using a two-sided t-test for continuous variables and a Chi-squared test for categorical variables. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression models were used to determine the association between pain at discharge and type of stroke, adjusting for age, sex, race, smoking status, prevalent hypertension, BMI, and length of stay (LOS). We also tested for statistical interactions between stroke type and age, sex, and race. Results: The mean age was 64 years, with 56% (n=462) being males. Of the 824 stroke patients, 584 (71%) had ischemic stroke while 237 (29%) had hemorrhagic (ICH) stroke. At discharge, 43% (n=358) reported pain. In unadjusted analyses, those reporting pain were younger (p<0.001), had a higher BMI (p=0.009), had longer LOS (p<0.001), and were less likely to have ischemic stroke (p<0.001). Only sex modified the association between stroke type and pain at discharge (p=0.002; AUC=0.716). In sex-stratified analysis females with ischemic stroke had lowered odds of reporting pain at discharge by 75% compared to those having ICH (OR=0.25; 95% CI: 0.15-0.41). Conclusions: Our study finds that 43% of stroke survivors reported pain at discharge. Younger females with an increased BMI and an increased LOS were more likely to report pain. Our model AUC suggests that post stroke pain may be a complicated phenomenon that requires more complex models.