Long-term stroke survival rose among older Medicare beneficiaries

An observational cohort study analysed data from 2,118,429 Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries aged 66 or older hospitalised with a first acute ischemic stroke during 2000–2019. This type of stroke occurs when blood flow to the brain is blocked. Fee-for-service Medicare pays providers for individual services. Researchers followed survival through 2024 and estimated adjusted one- and five-year survival across four admission periods.

Survival increased across all age, sex, race and ethnicity groups, and across groups with different burdens of other illness. Beneficiaries aged 75 or older had greater annual increases in one-year survival than those aged 66–74. Black beneficiaries had greater increases in one-year survival than White beneficiaries, but their survival remained lower. Those with a greater burden of other illness also had greater improvements but continued to have lower survival.