Only 23.1% of stroke patients arrived at the hospital within the appropriate time window for thrombolytic therapy, with older age and severe neurological deficits associated with faster arrival.
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Low timely stroke arrivals limit thrombolysis access; leaves open whether targeting age or deficit severity shortens prehospital delays.
OBJECTIVE: Thrombolysis is a time-dependent therapy. It is therefore very important how fast stroke patients can reach hospital. The present study was designed to assess which proportion of patients with stroke (from the population of Szczecin, the capital of West Pomerania Province, Poland) reaches hospital within the recommended time from the thrombolytic therapy point of view. The purpose of our study was also to elucidate which factors can influence the time before the ambulance service is called. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study involved 1,015 patients with stroke admitted to the Emergency Department of the University Hospital, Szczecin. RESULTS: 235 patients (23.1%) were admitted to the hospital within the appropriate period for thrombolytic therapy. Hospital arrival time was significantly earlier in older patients and in patients with severer neurological deficits. We also observed a tendency for faster hospitalization of women, the highly educated, and patients regularly using antiplatelet drugs for cardiovascular disease prevention. CONCLUSIONS: The percentage of stroke patients hospitalized within 2 h after stroke onset should be increased. The most susceptible subpopulations in our country seem to be older patients, the highly educated and patients regularly using antiplatelet drugs for cardiovascular disease prevention.
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Nowacki et al. (2007) studied this question.
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