Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41709888›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in medicine2026

Impact of COVID-19 on ischemic stroke patterns and outcomes: a multicenter retrospective study using propensity score matching.

Daniyah A Almarghalani, Khulood A Almehmadi, Alaa M Hammad, Mohammad S Alzahrani, Marwa Qadri, Joud Amin Sindi, Rahaf Abdulaziz Alharthi, Maha Nasser Aloudah, Sarah Abdulrahman Alghamdi, Shahad Jameel Alsuwat and 4 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Daniyah A AlmarghalaniDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
Khulood A AlmehmadiDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Alaa M HammadDepartment of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.
Mohammad S AlzahraniDepartment of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
Marwa QadriDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia.
Joud Amin SindiDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
Rahaf Abdulaziz AlharthiDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
Maha Nasser AloudahNational Guard Health Affairs, King Salman Specialized Hospital, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
Sarah Abdulrahman AlghamdiDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
Shahad Jameel AlsuwatDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, Taif University, Taif, Saudi Arabia.
Muath B AlmutairiCollege of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Alqassem Y HakamiCollege of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Faisal F AlamriKing Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Seraj MakkawiCollege of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: The impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on ischemic stroke outcomes remains uncertain, particularly in multicenter Middle Eastern cohorts. This study aimed to assess stroke-related complications and in-hospital outcomes in patients with and without COVID-19 using a propensity score-matched design. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 820 ischemic stroke patients admitted to three tertiary hospitals in Saudi Arabia between March 2020 and March 2021. Among these patients, 711 had no COVID-19, and 109 had confirmed COVID-19. Propensity score matching (2:1) was performed on the basis of age, sex, smoking status, diabetes status, hypertension status, and ischemic heart disease, resulting in a matched cohort of 327 patients (218 non-COVID-19 patients and 109 COVID-19 patients). Clinical outcomes were compared via conditional logistic regression. Results: After matching, COVID-19 patients had significantly longer hospital stays (median 5 vs. 3 days, Conclusion: COVID-19 infection independently worsens ischemic stroke outcomes, increasing the risk of pneumonia, cognitive impairment, and in-hospital mortality even after adjustment for baseline factors. These findings highlight the need for intensified respiratory and neurological monitoring and may guide the clinical prioritization of high-risk stroke patients during infectious disease outbreaks.

Indexed as

COVID-19ischemic strokemortalitypropensity score matchingstroke outcomes

Identifiers

PMID41709888
PMCPMC12909183

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.