Factors predicting the total medical costs associated with first-ever ischaemic stroke patients transferred to the rehabilitation ward

Objective: To investigate the predictors of total medical costs for first-ever ischaemic stroke patients transferred to the rehabilitation ward from the acute ward. Patients: A total of 311 first-ever ischaemic stroke patients (mean age 68.9 (standard deviation (SD) 12.2) years). Methods: Data, including common complications and medical events, from July 2002 to June 2012 were collected retrospectively from a regional hospital in Taiwan in order to study the potential predictors for medical costs. Significant variables from univariate analysis were included in a stepwise multivariate linear regression analysis. Results: The mean total medical cost per patient was USD 4,606.80 (SD 2,926.10). The significant predictors for cost were days of total stay (coefficient: 70.3; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 56.4-84.3), impaired consciousness (coefficient: 1,031.3; 95% CI = 490.8-1,571.8), hypoalbuminaemia in the acute ward (coefficient: 2,045.1; 95% CI = 1,054.6-3,035.7), fever (coefficient: 927.0; 95% CI = 193.3-1,660.7), hypokalaemia (coefficient: 2,698.4; 95% CI = 660.5-4,736.4), and hyponatraemia (coefficient: 1,123.3; 95% CI = 72.2-2,174.5) in the rehabilitation ward (R² = 0.416). Conclusion: These findings can help clinicians to identify risk factors for total medical costs in these patients and reduce costs by minimizing some complications (hypoalbuminaemia, fever, hypokalaemia, and hyponatraemia).