Comparison of primary and secondary stroke outcomes between government and private healthcare institutions: insights from the SPRINT India trial

Introduction Stroke recurrence and vascular events remain major contributors to post-stroke mortality in India, where care is delivered through heterogeneous government and private healthcare systems. This post-hoc analysis of the Secondary Prevention with a Structured Semi-Interactive Stroke Prevention Package in India (SPRINT INDIA) trial compared primary and secondary stroke outcomes between government and private hospitals. Methods SPRINT INDIA was a multicentre randomized controlled trial conducted across 31 centers (18 private, 13 government) within the Indian Stroke Clinical Trial Network (INSTRuCT). Adults with sub-acute stroke were randomized to a structured mHealth-supported secondary prevention intervention or standard care and followed for 1 year. The primary outcome was a composite of recurrent stroke, high-risk transient ischemic attack, acute coronary syndrome, and all-cause mortality. Secondary outcomes included functional status (modified Rankin Scale), behavioral risk factors, medication adherence, body mass index, physical activity, and laboratory measures of vascular risk. Outcomes were compared between government and private hospitals using adjusted regression models. Results Among 4,298 randomized patients, 3,038 completed 1-year follow-up (59.8% private; 40.2% government). There was no significant difference was observed in the composite primary outcome between private and government institutions (2.8 vs. 3.7%; p = 0.215). Private hospitals demonstrated non-significantly lower adjusted odds of the primary outcome and higher odds of good functional recovery. The intervention was associated with improved functional outcomes and reductions in systolic blood pressure and fasting blood glucose in government hospitals, while private hospitals showed greater improvements in medication adherence, smoking and alcohol cessation, and body mass index. Conclusions Stroke outcomes at 1 year were broadly comparable across healthcare sectors; however, the intervention demonstrated context-specific benefits, improving risk factors and functional recovery in government hospitals and reinforcing behavioral adherence in private hospitals. These findings highlight the importance of tailoring secondary stroke prevention strategies to healthcare system context. Clinical trial registration http://ctri.nic.in , identifier: CTRI/2017/09/009600.