AimThe aim of this study was to evaluate how pre‐stroke risk factors, neurological symptoms, and the level of disability shortly after stroke are associated with poststroke mortality during a 7‐year period after stroke, for persons treated in a stroke unit.MethodsThe data of 231 patients were included in the study. Patients who were treated in the stroke unit at the Riga East University Hospital between February 1, 2009, and July 20, 2009, were included in this study. Three stepwise Cox proportional hazard analyses were performed to analyze mortality in the 7 years following stroke. Pre‐stroke risk factors (type of stroke, arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, atrial fibrillation, smoking, alcohol abuse, obesity, recurrent stroke, age, gender), neurological symptoms (motor deficit, sensory disturbance, aphasia, poststroke urinary incontinence (PSUI), mental status), and limitations of activity (feeding, bathing, grooming, dressing, toilet use, transfers, mobility, stairs) were evaluated as factors associated with mortality after stroke.ResultsA total of 145 (62.8%) patients died during the study period. The final model for each group of factors included only one of the factors used for the analysis. Patients who had alcohol abuse were 40% more likely to die earlier. The hazard for those with PSUI is 1.72 times higher than those without PSUI. The independence in grooming showed a 39% lower likelihood of dying earlier.ConclusionAlcohol abuse as a pre‐stroke risk factor, poststroke urinary incontinence as a neurological symptom, and dependence in grooming as a factor of disability were associated with earlier mortality in the first seven years after stroke.

Abstract. Urinary incontinence is one of the medical problems, which may develop as a result of a stroke, and, according to several authors, its occurrence frequency may reach up to 80%. Clinical symptoms of urinary incontinence are considered to be one of the symptoms, which, along with the severity of the stroke and the level of functional limitations, allows to develop reliable predictions and to make targeted use of resources. Aim of the study, materials and methods. The aim of the study is to explore whether post-stroke urinary incontinence correlates with localization of lesion and clinical symptoms. The study includes 180 patients after a stroke, who have received treatment at Riga Eastern Clinic University Hospital Stroke Unit. All had a comprehensive clinical and functional assessment and cerebral computed tomography (CT). The examination took place at the hospital a few days after the stroke had occurred. Results. There are 180 participants to the study. Symptoms of urinary incontinence were reported for 70.6% of study participants. In 64% of cases new incontinence problems had developed, while in 6.5% of cases the previous symptoms of urinary incontinence (prior to the stroke) had worsened. The most common types of urinary incontinence in the acute period were urge and mixed incontinence (functional and urge incontinence). Patients with low Barthel Index showed higher frequency of urinary incontinence. A comparison of patient groups with and without symptoms of urinary incontinence showed that patients older than 75 years showed more symptoms of urinary incontinence (p = 0.013), and the same can be said about patients with low indicators of Barthel (p = 0.001) and patients with cognitive disorders (p = 0.001). Severity of paresis, aphasia and sensory disorders show a reliable correlation with the type of urinary incontinence.Conclusion. Symptoms of post-stroke urinary incontinence are linked both to a person's age, and functional and cognitive disorders. Urinary incontinence develops more frequently among patients with anterior circulation of the brain and subcortical brain lesion. There is a reliable correlation between severity of neurological lesion and urinary incontinence. Key words: stroke, rehabilitation, urinary incontinenceUrinary incontinence is a serious health disorder that develops after a stroke and occurs within the first days or weeks after affection in between 37% and 79% of cases (Van Kuijk, Van der Linde, Van Limbeek, 2001).Urinary incontinence is not seen as a specific early symptom of the stroke with characteristic brain lesion localization, however several authors view it as an indicator of potential occurrence of death, disability and re-hospitalization. The most common mechanism of post-stroke urinary incontinence is an increase in activity of bladder wall muscle or detrusor (m.detrusor), yet a decrease in activity of detrusor may be observed and urodynamic testing may show indicators below the norm.Lesion of various brain structures, movement and speech or language disorders, ...

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