We sought to determine

the main epidemiological characteristics of patients with stroke during the last decade in southern Iran and assess the mortality rate associated with all types of stroke in Fars Province. Patients and Methods All patients with any types of stroke (hemorrhagic or ischemic) were admitted to Nemazee Hospital, a major tertiary center affiliated with Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. We considered the International Classification of Diseases, 9th edition-Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) #STA-4783 cost keyword# and ICD-10-CM codes as recorded in the hospital database. The final diagnosis was determined by a qualified neurologists and then coded by experienced medical record technicians. Over a decade (from March 2001 to September 2011), patients with any stroke were identified from the hospital database using the ICD-9-CM codes for the years Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical 2001 to 2003 and ICD-10-CM for the

years 2004 to 2010. The ICD-9 codes included in our cohort are subarachnoid hemorrhage (430), intracerebral hemorrhage (431), unspecified intracranial hemorrhage (432), transient cerebral ischemia (435), acute ill-defined cerebrovascular disease (436), and other ill-defined cerebrovascular disease (437). The ICD-10 codes included in the cohort are subarachnoid hemorrhage (I60), intracerebral hemorrhage (I61), other non-traumatic Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical intracranial hemorrhage (I62), cerebral infarction (I63) and stroke (I64), other cerebrovascular diseases (I67), cerebrovascular disorders in diseases classified elsewhere (I68), and sequel of cerebrovascular disease (I69). The diagnosis of stroke in all patients was based on clinical findings with computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging, and was confirmed by Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical an experienced neurologist. Patients with epilepsy, brain tumors, cerebral infections, trauma or deficits due to metabolic causes, or incomplete records were Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical excluded. The follow-up time was equal to the duration of hospital stay. Age, sex,

area of residence, socioeconomic status, and length of hospital stay were sought for each patient in a specially-designed data matrix. Because there is a lack of a structured rehabilitation system in southern Iran and most patients are discharged regardless of their stroke severity, discharge destination was not assessed in this analysis. This study was conducted and approved by the Ethics Committee of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (HP29-90). Since the information was gathered from hospital database and included only subject identifiers, we requested and obtained and institutional review board waiver of informed consent. Statistical Analysis For univariate analysis, Student’s t test or Chi-square test was used to compare the mean and proportions of the continuous and categorical variables. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was built for the outcome of hospital mortality with the following covariates: age groups, gender, area of residence, and socioeconomic status.