BACKGROUND

Survivors of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) face an increased risk of ischemic cardiovascular events. Current ICH guidelines do not provide definitive recommendations regarding the use of antithrombotic and statin therapies. We, therefore, sought to study practice patterns and factors associated with the use of such medications after ICH.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional study of patients with ICH in the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke registry, between 2011 and 2021. Patients transferred to another hospital, those who died during hospitalization, and those with missing information on discharge medications were excluded. The study exposure was the proportion of patients who were prescribed antithrombotic or statin medications. We first ascertained the proportion of patients prescribed antithrombotic and lipid-lowering medications at discharge overall and across strata defined by pre-ICH use and history of previous ischemic vascular disease or atrial fibrillation. We then studied factors associated with the discharge prescription of these medications after ICH, using multiple logistic regressions.

RESULTS

In the final cohort, 50 416 (10.4%) of 486 586 patients with ICH were prescribed antiplatelet medications, 173 322 (35.1%) of 493 491 patients with ICH were prescribed statins, and 27 085 (5.4%) of 486 585 patients with ICH were prescribed anticoagulation therapy at discharge. The proportion of patients with antiplatelet therapy was 16.6% with pre-ICH use and 15.6% in those with previous ischemic vascular disease. Statins were prescribed to 41.1% and 43.7% of patients on previous lipid-lowering therapy and ischemic vascular disease, respectively. Anticoagulation therapy was restarted in 11.1% of patients. In logistic regression analysis, factors associated with higher use of antithrombotic or statin therapies after ICH were younger age, male sex, pre-ICH medication use, previous ischemic vascular disease, atrial fibrillation, lower admission National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, longer length of stay, and favorable discharge outcome.

CONCLUSIONS

Few patients with ICH are prescribed antithrombotic or statin therapies at hospital discharge. Given the emerging association between ICH and future major cardiovascular events, trials examining the net benefit of antiplatelet and lipid-lowering therapy after ICH are warranted.