Dehydration in hospital-admitted stroke patients: detection, frequency, and association.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE We aimed to determine the frequency of dehydration, risk factors, and associations with outcomes at hospital discharge after stroke. METHODS We linked clinical data from stroke patients in 2 prospective hospital registers with routine blood urea and creatinine results. Dehydration was defined by a blood urea-to-creatinine ratio >80. RESULTS Of 2591 patients registered, 1606 (62%) were dehydrated at some point during their admission. Independent risk factors for dehydration included older age, female gender, total anterior circulation syndrome, and prescribed diuretics (all P<0.001). Patients with dehydration were significantly more likely be dead or dependent at hospital discharge than those without (χ(2)=170.5; degrees of freedom=2; P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS Dehydration is common and associated with poor outcomes. Further work is required to establish if these associations are causal and if preventing or treating dehydration improves outcomes.