Association of N-butylphthalide treatment with 1-year activities-of-daily-living recovery in convalescent ischemic stroke patients with chronic disease burden: a post-marketing real-world non-randomized controlled study

The study examined the effect of N-butylphthalide (NBP) treatment on recovery of daily living activities in patients during one year after ischemic stroke. A total of 1,190 patients were enrolled, with 1,095 completing one-year follow-up (533 in the NBP group and 562 in the control group). Patients treated with NBP showed greater improvement in the Barthel Index (score of daily living abilities) compared to the control group (1.31 versus −1.11 points; P = 0.0067). Improvements were particularly evident in personal hygiene, toilet use, feeding, transfers, mobility, and dressing. In the fully adjusted model, NBP treatment remained associated with greater Barthel Index improvement (β = 2.40; P = 0.0038). The results suggest that NBP treatment is associated with better functional recovery in convalescent stroke patients with chronic diseases.