Table 1 Relationships between baseline clinical characteristics and stroke-associated pneumonia (SAP) in patients with ischemic stroke

Demographic Variables

 Age, years

64.65 ± 14.06

62.11 ± 13.54

69.48 ± 13.79

 < 0.001

 Males, n (%)

576 (63.0)

400 (64.4)

176 (59.9)

0.209

 Smoking, n (%)

380 (41.5)

269 (43.3)

111 (37.8)

0.128

 Drinking, n (%)

276 (30.2)

191 (30.8)

85 (28.9)

0.624

 Hypertension, n (%)

542 (59.2)

247 (39.8)

126 (42.9)

0.416

 Diabetes, n (%)

221 (24.2)

150 (24.2)

71 (24.1)

> 0.999

 Hyperlipidemia, n (%)

85 (9.3)

68 (11.0)

17 (5.8)

0.017

 Atrial fibrillation, n (%)

222 (24.3)

106 (17.1)

116 (39.5)

 < 0.001

 Coronary heart disease, n (%)

93 (10.2)

57 (9.2)

36 (12.2)

0.188

 History of cancer, n (%)

43 (4.7)

23 (3.7)

20 (6.8)

0.057

Physiological and Lab Variables

 BMI, kg/m² (IQR)

23.80 ± 3.29

24.10 ± 3.32

23.00 ± 3.09

 < 0.001

 Admission SBP, mmHg

145 ± 26

145 ± 26

145 ± 24

0.945

 Admission DBP, mmHg

87 ± 16

88 ± 15

87 ± 17

0.433

 Heart rate, beats/min

82 ± 23

81 ± 19

81 ± 24

0.638

 Temperature, ℃

36.50 ± 0.29

36.47 ± 0.25

36.54 ± 0.37

0.001

 Dysphagia, n (%)

80 (8.7)

26 (4.2)

54 (18.4)

 < 0.001

 Hemoglobin, g/L (IQR)

137 (125–148)

139 (127–150)

133 (120–144)

 < 0.001

 WBC, 10⁹/L (IQR)

7.12 (5.89–9.12)

6.76 (5.70–8.40)

8.42 (6.43–10.30)

 < 0.001

 Neutrophil count, 10⁹/L (IQR)

4.96 (3.71–7.19)

4.49 (3.47–6.26)

6.56 (4.61–8.42)

 < 0.001

 Platelet count, 10⁹/L (IQR)

176 (140–220)

180 (143–226)

169 (134–207)

0.010

 Lymphocyte, 10⁹/L (IQR)

1.41 (1.00–1.86)

1.52 (1.12–1.96)

1.16 (0.83–1.58)

 < 0.001

 Albumin, g/L (IQR)

42.1 (39.6–44.5)

42.9 (40.5–44.9)

40.5 (37.4–43.0)

 < 0.001

 D-dimer, mg/L (IQR)

0.77 (0.34–2.15)

0.57 (0.28–1.18)

1.94 (0.91–4.74)

 < 0.001

 Fibrinogen, g/L (IQR)

2.86 (2.41–3.49)

2.82 (2.37–3.27)

3.10 (2.48–3.86)

 < 0.001

 Blood glucose, mmol/L (IQR)

6.20 (5.70–6.51)

6.20 (5.70–6.60)

6.20 (5.70–6.51)

0.255

 Creatinine, umol/L (IQR)

74 (63–87)

73 (63–85)

76 (63–93)

0.243

 BUN, mmol/L (IQR)

5.6 (4.5–7.1)

6.0 (4.7–7.9)

5.5 (4.4–6.8)

 < 0.001

 Triglycerides, mmol/L (IQR)

1.27 (0.92–1.85)

1.37 (0.97–1.98)

1.12 (0.88–1.57)

 < 0.001

 Total cholesterol, mmol/L (IQR)

4.59 (3.81–5.43)

4.60 (3.83–5.48)

4.56 (3.76–5.36)

0.147

 HDL, mmol/L (IQR)

1.20 (0.97–1.46)

2.41 (1.90–3.05)

2.35 (1.83–2.90)

0.237

 LDL, mmol/L (IQR)

2.39 (1.88–3.03)

1.21 (0.98–1.45)

1.18 (0.95–1.47)

0.420

Risk scores

 NIHSS score (IQR)

5 (3–12)

4 (2–6)

14 (9–18)

 < 0.001

 A²DS² score (IQR)

4 (2–5)

4 (1–4)

5 (4–7)

 < 0.001

 PSI score (IQR)

68 (55–84)

65 (52–77)

81 (62 -100)

 < 0.001