Abstract
BACKGROUND: Stroke-associated pneumonia (SAP) is a common and serious complication in patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (SICH), contributing to prolonged hospital stays and poor outcomes. Nutritional status has been linked to the development of SAP in patients with ischemic stroke, but its role in SICH patients remains understudied. This study aims to evaluate the predictive value of the Nutritional Risk Screening-2002 (NRS-2002) score for SAP in SICH patients and to compare it with other nutritional assessment tools. METHODS: This retrospective observational study included 404 consecutive SICH patients admitted to Dongyang People's Hospital from January 2023 to May 2024. Nutritional risk was assessed using the NRS-2002 score upon admission, and SAP was diagnosed within the first 7 days of hospitalization. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses identified risk factors for SAP, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to compare the predictive accuracy of the NRS-2002, Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) score, and Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI) for SAP. RESULTS: Among the 404 patients, 97 developed SAP. A higher NRS-2002 score was significantly associated with an increased risk of SAP (OR: 1.575, 95% CI: 1.134-2.186, p = 0.007). ROC analysis showed that the NRS-2002 score (AUC: 0.768, 95% CI: 0.716-0.820) outperformed the CONUT (AUC: 0.597, 95% CI: 0.530-0.663) and PNI (AUC: 0.588, 95% CI: 0.519-0.657) in predicting SAP (p < 0.05). Subgroup analysis revealed that the NRS-2002 score ≥ 3 was particularly predictive of SAP in patients with weight loss, severe stroke, and those without hypertension or with diabetes. CONCLUSION: The NRS-2002 score is a valuable predictor of pneumonia in SICH patients, with higher scores correlating with a significantly increased risk of SAP. This highlights the importance of early nutritional assessment in identifying high-risk patients and potentially guiding clinical interventions to reduce SAP incidence.