Multiple potential positive and negative predictive acute ischemic stroke (AIS) risk factors were identified in a recent study that sought to identify predictors of AIS among patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with dizziness, imbalance, or vertigo (DIV) based on demographic and clinical characteristics. Researchers identified patients admitted to the hospital after presenting to the ED with DIV from the Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System database of New York from 2010 to 2014. They found:

• Among 77,993 patients with DIV, 3,857 (4.9%) had a discharge diagnosis of AIS.
• Admission presentation of imbalance, African American race, history of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, tobacco use, atrial fibrillation, and prior AIS due to extracranial artery atherosclerosis were each positively associated with an AIS diagnosis independently.
• Factors negatively associated with an AIS discharge diagnosis included admission presentation of vertigo, female sex, age >81, history of anemia, coronary artery disease, asthma, depressive disorders, and anxiety disorders.