Post-stroke pneumonia at the stroke unit – a registry based analysis of contributing and protective factors

BACKGROUND: To investigate prevalence and risk factors for post stroke pneumonia (PSP) in patients with acute ischemic stroke treated at stroke units (SU). METHOD: We analysed data from the Austrian Stroke Unit registry concerning admissions from January 2003 to December 2013 and assessed the prevalence of PSP at the stroke unit. Patients with and without PSP were compared in univariate and multivariate models searching for factors associated with the occurrence of PSP at the SU. RESULTS: Three thousand one hundred eleven patients (5.2 %) of 59,558 analysed patients were diagnosed with PSP. While age and stroke severity were non-modifiable factors associated with PSP, modifiable risk factors included chronic alcohol consumption and atrial fibrillation. Patients who developed neurological, cardiac, and other infective complications showed a higher prevalence of PSP, an increased prevalence was also found in connection with the placement of nasogastric tubes or urinary catheters. Female sex, left hemispheric stroke, cryptogenic stroke pathogenesis and additionally, treatment with lipid lowering drugs were factors associated with a lower PSP prevalence. CONCLUSION: Pneumonia in acute ischemic stroke is associated with a variety of modifiable and unmodifiable factors that allow to identify patients at high risk of developing PSP and to focus on early preventive measures at the SU. Further studies could use the results of this study to explore potential benefits of specific interventions targeted at these factors. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12883-016-0627-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.