Correlation of Severity of Ischemic Stroke With Body Temperature

Abstract

Objective: To correlate severity of National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score with
body temperature.
Methods: A descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted in General Hospital, Lahore.
This study is conducted from 1st July 2014 to 30th December 2014. 220 patients with diagnosed
ischemic stroke were included in the study after informed consent. Rectal temperature of all
patients was measured and recorded with rectal thermometer. NIHSS scoring was done at
presentation. Pearson correlation coefficient was determined for correlation between rectal
temperature and severity of stroke using SPSS 17.
Results: 220 patients with mean age of 55 ± 3.424 years were included. Age ranged from 39 to
60 years. 141 (64.1%) were male patients and 79 (35.9%) were females. Body temperature
ranged from 95-1020F while mean temperature was 98.18 ± 2.014 of NIHSS Score of sampled
population was 14 to 30 with mean score 23.90 ± 4.139. There was a statistically significant
correlation between body temperature and severity of stroke (p < 0.001, correlation coefficient r=-
0.528)
Conclusions: Body temperature as determined by rectal thermometer at time of presentation
with stroke is moderately correlated with stroke severity as measured by NIHSS (r=-0.528