The effect of human immunodeficiency virus on functional recovery in hospitalized patients with stroke

Background and Objective: Given the known association between inflammatory conditions and stroke, this study was designed to assess whether the diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) – which is associated with chronic inflammation – would affect the functional trajectory of patients hospitalized for the treatment of stroke. Methods: This is a retrospective study comparing the functional outcomes of 688,066 stroke patients with a diagnosis of HIV to those without a diagnosis of HIV from 2002 to 2017. Results: HIV+ patients were found to have a much lower age at admission, with a difference of over 10 years when compared to HIV− patients. HIV+ patients were also less likely to discharge to home when compared to HIV− patients (P < 0.0001). Gains in functional independence measure (FIM) scores per day were found to be greater among those who were HIV− compared to those who were HIV+ (P = 0.086). Factors associated with a lower FIM efficiency included older age at admission, male gender, and having a hemorrhagic stroke (P < 0.0001). Conclusion: This study found that, among those hospitalized for the treatment of a stroke, the functional gain per day was inferior among those with HIV than among those without HIV at admission.