Blood pressure variability and early neurological outcomes in acute and subacute stroke in Southwestern Uganda

•Patients with acute and subacute stroke in southwestern Uganda have high blood pressure variations.•High blood pressure variations are associated with poor stroke clinical outcomes in Ugandan patients.•Association of blood pressure variability with neurological outcomes after stroke is not linear.•Reverse causality between blood pressure variability and outcome cannot be excluded.•Severe stroke is associated with greater disturbance in the autonomic nervous system.