Physician prescribing patterns following hospital admission for ischemic cerebrovascular disease

Larry B. Goldstein, James N. Davis

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Functional recovery after brain injury in laboratory animals is influenced by a variety of drugs. Yet, the impact of currently prescribed drugs on recovery after human stroke remains largely unexplored. From the Duke-VA Stroke Registry, we found 77% of patients admitted to either the university hospital or the Veterans Administration hospital with cerebral infarction were taking medications at the time of their stroke. Ninety-five percent of these patients were receiving medication at the time of discharge. Antihypertensives were the most commonly prescribed agents in the study population, and platelet antiaggregants were second. Sixty-four percent of patients had a change in their antihypertensive regimens. The number of patients prescribed sedative-hypnotic agents doubled over the first 48 hours after hospital admission. The choice of a therapeutic agent for a given clinical indication may have important implications for rehabilitation of the stroke patient.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1806-1809
Number of pages4
JournalNeurology
Volume38
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1988

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Clinical Neurology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Physician prescribing patterns following hospital admission for ischemic cerebrovascular disease'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this