Data from: Return to work after ischemic stroke in young adults: a registry-based follow-up study

Objective: We aimed to investigate the proportion of young patients not
returning to work (NRTW) at one year after ischemic stroke (IS) and during
follow-up, and clinical factors associated with NRTW. Methods: Patients
from Helsinki Young Stroke Registry with an IS occurring in the years
1994-2007, who were at paid employment within one year before IS, and with
National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score ≤15 points at
hospital discharge, were included. Data on periods of payment came from
the Finnish Centre for Pensions, and death data from Statistics Finland.
Multivariate logistic regression analyses assessed factors associated with
NRTW one year after IS and Lasagna plots visualized the proportion of
patients returning to work over time. Results: We included a total of 769
patients, of whom 289 (37.6%) were not working at one year, 323 (42.0%) at
two years, and 361 (46.9%) at five years from IS. When adjusted for age,
sex, socioeconomic status and NIHSS score at admission, factors associated
with NRTW at one year after IS were large anterior strokes, strokes caused
by large-artery atherosclerosis, high-risk sources of cardioembolism, and
rare causes other than dissection compared with undetermined cause,
moderate to severe aphasia versus no aphasia, mild and moderate to severe
limb paresis versus no paresis, and moderate to severe visual field
deficit versus no deficit. Conclusions: NRTW is a frequent adverse outcome
after IS in young adults with mild to moderate IS. Clinical variables
available during acute hospitalization may allow prediction of NRTW.