Baseline characteristics of patients according to serum albumin levels
| Variable | Overall | Serum albumin, g/L | P for trend | |||
| <35 | 35–39.9 | 40–44.9 | ≥45 | |||
| N=13 618 | n=980 | n=5007 | n=5875 | n=1756 | ||
| Serum albumin, g/L, mean (SD) | 40.5±4.1 | 32.7±2.6 | 37.9±1.4 | 42.1±1.4 | 47.1±2.3 | <0.0001 |
| Age, years, mean (SD) | 62.2±11.3 | 68.2±11.3 | 64.4±10.7 | 60.8±10.8 | 57.2±11.3 | <0.0001 |
| Men, n (%) | 9276 (68.1) | 664 (67.8) | 3352 (67.0) | 4027 (68.5) | 1233 (70.2) | 0.06 |
| BMI, kg/m2, mean (SD) | 24.7±3.3 | 23.8±3.6 | 24.4±3.3 | 24.9±3.3 | 25.2±3.2 | <0.0001 |
| Medical history, n (%) | ||||||
| Hypertension | 8503 (62.4) | 573 (58.5) | 3005 (60.0) | 3765 (64.1) | 1160 (66.1) | <0.0001 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 3135 (23.0) | 260 (26.5) | 1153 (23.0) | 1357 (23.1) | 365 (20.8) | 0.01 |
| Dyslipidemia | 1070 (7.9) | 64 (6.5) | 378 (7.6) | 475 (8.1) | 153 (8.7) | 0.16 |
| Stroke or TIA | 3005 (22.1) | 244 (24.9) | 1127 (22.5) | 1291 (22.0) | 343 (19.5) | 0.01 |
| Coronary heart disease | 1432 (10.5) | 126 (12.9) | 556 (11.1) | 611 (10.4) | 139 (7.9) | 0.0002 |
| Atrial fibrillation/flutter | 911 (6.7) | 121 (12.4) | 424 (8.5) | 304 (5.2) | 62 (3.5) | <0.0001 |
| Peripheral vascular disease | 90 (0.7) | 12 (1.2) | 34 (0.7) | 35 (0.6) | 9 (0.5) | 0.13 |
| Index event, n (%) | ||||||
| Ischaemic stroke | 12 690 (93.2) | 941 (96.0) | 4711 (94.1) | 5433 (92.5) | 1605 (91.4) | <0.0001 |
| TIA | 928 (6.8) | 39 (4.0) | 296 (5.9) | 442 (7.5) | 151 (8.6) | |
| TOAST types, n (%) | ||||||
| Large-artery atherosclerosis | 3441 (25.3) | 277 (28.3) | 1330 (26.6) | 1416 (24.1) | 418 (23.8) | <0.0001 |
| Cardioembolism | 824 (6.1) | 90 (9.2) | 375 (7.5) | 299 (5.1) | 60 (3.4) | |
| Small-vessel occlusion | 2836 (20.8) | 132 (13.5) | 988 (19.7) | 1319 (22.5) | 397 (22.6) | |
| Other determined aetiology | 173 (1.3) | 20 (2.0) | 54 (1.1) | 75 (1.3) | 24 (1.4) | |
| Undetermined aetiology | 6344 (46.6) | 461 (47.0) | 2260 (45.1) | 2766 (47.1) | 857 (48.8) | |
| Smoking status, n (%) | ||||||
| Never | 7674 (56.4) | 574 (58.6) | 2839 (56.7) | 3272 (55.7) | 989 (56.3) | 0.53 |
| Previous | 1674 (12.3) | 120 (12.2) | 625 (12.5) | 725 (12.3) | 204 (11.6) | |
| Current | 4270 (31.4) | 286 (29.2) | 1543 (30.8) | 1878 (32.0) | 563 (32.1) | |
| NIHSS score at admission, median (IQR) | 3 (1–6) | 4 (2–7) | 3 (1–6) | 3 (1–6) | 3 (1–5) | <0.0001 |
| Pre-stroke mRS 0~2, n (%) | 13 044 (95.8) | 912 (93.1) | 4764 (95.2) | 5658 (96.3) | 1710 (97.4) | <0.0001 |
| Arterial stenosis, n(%) | ||||||
| ICAS | 3382/11 689 (28.9) | 299/849 (35.2) | 1320/4327 (30.5) | 1371/5019 (27.3) | 392/1494 (26.2) | <0.0001 |
| ECAS | 529/11 689 (4.5) | 58/849 (6.8) | 204/4327 (4.7) | 218/5019 (4.3) | 49/1494 (3.3) | 0.0009 |
| Acute recanalisation therapy, n (%) | ||||||
| Intravenous thrombolysis | 1146 (8.4) | 122 (12.5) | 474 (9.5) | 442 (7.5) | 108 (6.2) | <0.0001 |
| Endovascular therapy | 85 (0.6) | 10 (1.0) | 24 (0.5) | 42 (0.7) | 9 (0.5) | 0.15 |
| Inpatient medication, n (%) | ||||||
| Antihypertensive agents | 6237 (45.8) | 391 (39.9) | 2147 (42.9) | 2821 (48.0) | 878 (50.0) | <0.0001 |
| Hypoglycaemic agents | 3374 (24.8) | 262 (26.7) | 1216 (24.3) | 1461 (24.9) | 435 (24.8) | 0.44 |
| Cholesterol-lowering agents | 13 033 (95.7) | 933 (95.2) | 4789 (95.7) | 5613 (95.5) | 1698 (96.7) | 0.16 |
| Antiplatelet agents | 13 142 (96.5) | 938 (95.7) | 4816 (96.2) | 5684 (96.8) | 1704 (97.0) | 0.12 |
| Anticoagulant agents | 1372 (10.1) | 130 (13.3) | 562 (11.2) | 535 (9.1) | 145 (8.3) | <0.0001 |
| Laboratory tests | ||||||
| TC, mmol/L, mean (SD) | 4.13±1.23 | 3.90±1.47 | 4.05±1.18 | 4.18±1.21 | 4.33±1.30 | <0.0001 |
| LDL, mmol/L, mean (SD) | 2.45±1.08 | 2.34±1.21 | 2.42±1.04 | 2.47±1.08 | 2.54±1.13 | <0.0001 |
| HDL, mmol/L, mean (SD) | 0.97±0.30 | 0.94±0.29 | 0.97±0.30 | 0.97±0.30 | 0.97±0.30 | 0.03 |
| TG, mmol/L, mean (SD) | 1.60±0.92 | 1.43±1.01 | 1.52±0.85 | 1.65±0.92 | 1.75±0.99 | <0.0001 |
| eGFR, mL/min/1.73 m2, mean (SD) | 92.0±33.7 | 84.1±37.9 | 89.4±28.5 | 94.1±35.2 | 97.0±38.8 | <0.0001 |
| ALT, U/L, median (IQR) | 18.0 (13.0–25.7) | 15.0 (11.0–20.0) | 16.5 (12.0–23.0) | 19.0 (13.9–26.6) | 22.0 (16.0–32.0) | <0.0001 |
| hs-CRP, mg/L, median (IQR) | 1.7 (0.8–4.6) | 3.5 (1.2–8.3) | 1.9 (0.8–5.2) | 1.6 (0.8–3.9) | 1.4 (0.7–3.4) | <0.0001 |
ALT, alanine aminotransferase; BMI, body mass index; ECAS, extracranial arterial stenosis; eGFR, estimated glomerular filtration rate; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; hs-CRP, high-sensitivity C reactive protein; ICAS, intracranial arterial stenosis; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; mRS, modified Rankin Scale; NIHSS, National Institute of Health Stroke Scale; TC, total cholesterol; TG, triglyceride; TIA, transient ischaemic attack; TOAST, the Trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment.