Categorized hospital charges of acute ischemic stroke according to trial of org 10172 in acute stroke treatment classification

Background: Previous studies have shown that the cost of hospitalization due to stroke is significantly associated with the length of stay, stroke severity and other clinical characteristics, as well as various socio-demographic factors. However, these studies have been rather inconsistent with regard to the influence of stroke subtypes on costs. Aims: This study was examined and compared hospital charges of in-patients with acute ischemic stroke according to the Trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment classification. Materials and Methods: The costs of case of 749 patients with first ever ischemic stroke who were admitted to an academic medical center between January 2006 and December 2008 were analyzed. The hospital charges were compared among the stroke subtypes using Analysis of Variance. Multiple regression analyses were further performed to test the significance of the impact of the stroke subtype after controlling for other variables. Results: The stroke subtype turned out to be a statistically significant factor influencing both the total charge and several categorized charges even after controlling for other contributing factors such as hospital length of stay and stroke severity. Conclusions: This study concludes that the stroke subtype should be included when considering in-patient medical expenses of acute ischemic stroke.