Dataset Information

Impact of onset-to-door time on outcomes and factors associated with late hospital arrival in patients with acute ischemic stroke.

ABSTRACT:

Background and purpose

Previous studies have reported that early hospital arrival improves clinical outcomes in patients with acute ischemic stroke; however, whether early arrival is associated with favorable outcomes regardless of reperfusion therapy and the type of stroke onset time is unclear. Thus, we investigated the impact of onset-to-door time on outcomes and evaluated the predictors of pre-hospital delay after ischemic stroke.

Methods

Consecutive acute ischemic stroke patients who arrived at the hospital within five days of onset from September 2019 to May 2020 were selected from the prospective stroke registries of Seoul National University Hospital and Chung-Ang University Hospital of Seoul, Korea. Patients were divided into early (onset-to-door time, ≤4.5 h) and late (>4.5 h) arrivers. Multivariate analyses were performed to assess the effect of early arrival on clinical outcomes and predictors of late arrival.

Results

Among the 539 patients, 28.4% arrived early and 71.6% arrived late. Early hospital arrival was significantly associated with favorable outcomes (three-month modified Rankin Scale [mRS]: 0-2, adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 2.03, 95% confidence interval: [CI] 1.04-3.96) regardless of various confounders, including receiving reperfusion therapy and type of stroke onset time. Furthermore, a lower initial National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score (aOR: 0.94, 95% CI: 0.90-0.97), greater pre-stroke mRS score (aOR: 1.58, 95% CI: 1.18-2.13), female sex (aOR: 1.71, 95% CI: 1.14-2.58), unclear onset time, and ≤6 years of schooling (aOR: 1.76, 95% CI: 1.03-3.00 compared to >12 years of schooling) were independent predictors of late arrival.

Conclusions

Thus, the onset-to-door time of≤4.5 h is crucial for better clinical outcome, and lower NIHSS score, greater pre-stroke mRS score, female sex, unclear onset times, and ≤6 years of schooling were independent predictors of late arrival. Therefore, educating about the importance of early hospital arrival after acute ischemic stroke should be emphasized. More strategic efforts are needed to reduce the prehospital delay by understanding the predictors of late arrival.

SUBMITTER: Lee EJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7993794 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:ImportanceStroke treatment is exquisitely time sensitive. The door-in-door-out (DIDO) time, defined as the total time spent in the emergency department (ED) at a transferring hospital, is an important quality metric for the care of acute stroke. However, little is known about the contributions of specific process steps to delays and disparities in DIDO time.ObjectiveTo quantify process steps and their association with DIDO times at transferring hospitals among patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS).Design, setting, and participantsThis retrospective cohort study analyzed patients in the American Heart Association Get With the Guidelines-Stroke registry with AIS presenting between January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2021, and transferred from the presenting hospital ED to another acute care hospital for evaluation of thrombolytics, endovascular therapy, or postthrombolytic care. Data were analyzed from July 8 to October 13, 2023.ExposuresIntervals of ED care of ischemic stroke: door-to-imaging and imaging-to-door times.Main outcomes and measuresThe primary outcome was DIDO time. Multivariate generalized estimating equations regression models were performed to compare contributions of interval process times to explain variation in DIDO time, controlling for patient- and hospital-level characteristics.ResultsAmong 28 887 patients (50.5% male; mean [SD] age, 68.3 [14.8] years; 5.5% Hispanic, 14.7% non-Hispanic Black, and 73.2% non-Hispanic White), mean (SD) DIDO time was 171.4 (149.5) minutes, mean (SD) door-to-imaging time was 18.3 (34.1) minutes, and mean (SD) imaging-to-door time was 153.1 (141.5) minutes. In the model adjusting for door-to-imaging time, the following were associated with longer DIDO time: age 80 years or older (compared with 18-59 years; 5.97 [95% CI, 1.02-10.92] minutes), female sex (5.21 [95% CI, 1.55-8.87] minutes), and non-Hispanic Black race (compared with non-Hispanic White 10.09 [95% CI, 4.21-15.96] minutes). In the model including imaging-to-door time as a covariate, disparities in DIDO by age and female sex became nonsignificant, and the disparity by Black race was attenuated (2.32 [95% CI, 1.09-3.56] minutes).Conclusions and relevanceIn this national cohort study of interhospital transfer of patients with AIS, delays in DIDO time by Black race, older age (≥80 years), and female sex were largely explained by the imaging-to-door period, suggesting that future systems interventions should target this interval to reduce these disparities. While existing guidelines and care resources heavily focus on reducing door-to-imaging times, further attention is warranted to reduce imaging-to-door times in the management of patients with AIS who require interhospital transfer.