Women with acute ischaemic stroke are less likely than men to be discharged with antihypertensive medication despite their greater risk, a study shows.

But whether or not any patient admitted for stroke receives such agents depends on their age, comorbidities and the hospital concerned, researchers have found.

Analysis of data from 39 hospitals participating in the Australian Stroke Clinical Registry shows that overall 79% of stroke patients were discharged on BP-lowering medications between 2009 and 2013.

But rates of prescription of the drugs, recommended at that time in Australian guidelines for all stroke patients unless contraindicated by symptomatic hypotension, varied widely from hospital to hospital, the Monash University researchers reported.