Results:

A total of 6,236 men and women were included, of which 2,398 (38.5%) were women. The mean age of the study subjects was 70.2 ± 12.1 years: women were 5 years older than men. Women were more likely to have dyslipidemia and atrial fibrillation, whereas men were more prone to diabetes mellitus, smoking and drinking habits, ischemic heart diseases, and higher body mass index. Severe stroke (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score, ≥8) on admission was more prevalent in women than in men. The frequency of neurological improvement or deterioration during hospitalization was not different between the sexes. After adjusting for possible confounders, including age, stroke subtype and severity, risk factors, and post-stroke treatments, female sex was independently associated with poor functional outcome at discharge (odds ratio, 1.30; 95% confidence interval, 1.08-1.57). There was heterogeneity of the association between sex and poor outcome according to age: women had higher risk of poor outcome than men among patients ages ≥70 years, but no clear sex difference was found in patients ages <70 years.