Improving Stroke Care with a Registry
Author Information
Author(s): Nancy K Hills, Johnston S Claiborne
Primary Institution: University of California San Francisco
Hypothesis
Duration of participation in a stroke registry is associated with improvement in quality of care.
Conclusion
Hospitals participating in a stroke registry showed improved treatment rates for stroke and TIA patients over time.
Supporting Evidence
- 93.1% of patients received antithrombotic medications within 48 hours of admission.
- 82.1% of ischemic stroke patients received optimal DVT prophylaxis.
- 91.1% of patients were optimally treated with antithrombotic medications at discharge.
Takeaway
Hospitals that keep track of their stroke patients in a special registry can get better at treating them over time.
Methodology
Data were collected from 86 hospitals participating in a web-based stroke treatment registry from 1999 to 2003, analyzing treatment rates based on duration of participation.
Potential Biases
Potential bias due to hospitals interested in improving care being more likely to participate.
Limitations
Results may be influenced by selection bias as hospitals voluntarily participated and there was no control group.
Participant Demographics
Patients included 12,263 diagnosed with ischemic stroke and 4,038 with TIA, with a median age of 71.8 years.
Statistical Information
P-Value
0.0005
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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