A (2) DS (2) Score to Predict the Risk of Stroke-Associated Pneumonia in Acute Stroke: An Indian Perspective

Background Stroke-associated pneumonia (SAP) is an important cause of poststroke morbidity and mortality. Several clinical risk scores predict the risk of SAP. In this study, we used the A (2) DS (2) score (age, atrial fibrillation, dysphagia, sex, and stroke severity) to assess the risk of SAP in patients admitted with acute stroke. Methods A high (5–10) and a low (0–4) A (2) DS (2) score was assigned to patients with acute stroke admitted to the neurology ward. Univariate binary logistic regression analysis was performed to find the strength of association of SAP and A (2) DS (2) score. Results There were 250 patients with acute stroke of which 46 developed SAP. Forty-four patients developed SAP in high score as against 2 in low-score group (odds ratio [OR] = 0.03, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.01–0.15, p = 0.0001). A (2) DS (2) score >5 had sensitivity of 82.6% and specificity of 65.1% to predict SAP. The mean A (2) DS (2) score in patients with pneumonia was 7.02 ± 1.40 compared to 4.75 ± 1.92 in patients without pneumonia ( p = 0.0001). Conclusions A (2) DS (2) score has a high sensitivity of 82% in predicting the risk of SAP and is a useful tool to monitor patients after acute stroke. A (2) DS (2) score can help in timely detection and prevention of SAP and reduction in caregiver’s burden.