Abstract
Background/Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of chronic heart failure (CHF), chronic kidney dysfunction (CKD), and the combined CHF-CKD comorbidity on the outcomes of rehabilitation in stroke patients. Methods: A total of 586 patients who had suffered a stroke (mean age, 70 ± 13; 47.6% female; 72.4% ischemic and 27.6% hemorrhagic strokes) and who were admitted immediately after acute stroke care to a rehabilitation center were included in this cohort study and followed up with until their death or discharge from the rehabilitation center. The clinical characteristics of the patients were obtained from their medical records. The relationship between the background comorbidities (CHF, CKD, and concurrent CHF-CKD) and fatal and non-fatal unfavorable outcomes (emergency readmission to a primary hospital or transfer to a long-term care facility in a vegetative or minimally conscious state) were investigated. Results: Unfavorable outcomes were more common in the groups with background CHF and/or CKD. From the Cox multivariate analysis, both CHF and CKD were independent prognostic factors for the occurrence of unfavorable outcomes, with a hazard ratio (HR) of 2.28 (95% CI = 1.2-4.29; p-value = 0.01) and 2.19 (95% CI = 1.24-3.87; p-value = 0.007), respectively. Moreover, the combined CHF-CKD comorbidity showed a more than 5-fold increased risk of an adverse post-stroke outcome (HR of 5.8; 95% CI = 2.5-13.44; p-value < 0.001). Conclusions: The combined CHF-CKD comorbidity is an important independent complicating factor that, along with other known influencing factors, can affect unfavorable post-stroke outcomes more than CHF or CKD alone, and necessitates critical attention to its diagnosis and management as a separate mixed syndrome.