Original Contributions Patient Preferences for Stroke Outcomes

Background and Purpose In clinical trials stroke is reported as a major morbid outcome, but the impact of stroke on patients is not directly assessed. This study examines patient preferences for different outcomes of stroke, including death. Methods We presented patients with written case scenarios of stroke outcomes. The scenarios represented four categories of stroke severity (mild, moderate, severe, and fatal), and for nonfatal strokes the scenarios described motor, language, and cognitive deficits. Patients reported values for each of the 10 stroke scenarios using a rank-and-scale method over a 100point range, with 100 representing perfect health and 0 corresponding to the worst possible health state. Results One hundred seventeen of 209 consecutive patients at risk for stroke participated in this study. Severe strokes were uniformly rated as having low preference weights (mean±SD [median]: 3±4 [1] for disabling hemiplegia, 8±9 [5] for con-