Table 1.
Summary of included QICs
| Name of QIC | Main QIC publication – author (year) | Country | Study design | Stroke care pathway stage | Main improvement areas/s | Number of study sites (intervention) | Duration of QIC (in months) | Outcome type (direction of effect) |
Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts EMS Stroke QIC | Daudelin et al. (2013) | USA | ITS | Urgent care | Prehospital stroke screening and documentation | 17 | 36 | Process (positive) | [33] |
| PRomoting ACute Thrombolysis in Ischemic StrokE (PRACTISE) | Dirks et al. (2011) | Netherlands | RCT | Urgent and acute care | Thrombolysis treatment rates | 12 (6) | 24 |
Process (positive) Patient (no effect) Other (positive) |
[22, 25] |
| University of Best Practices (UBP) – “Be There San Diego” | Fulton et al. (2017) | USA | BA | Prevention | Reduce CVD morbidity and mortality | Unclear | 36 | Patient (no effect) | [38] |
| The Breakthrough Collaborative in Stroke | Hsieh et al. (2016) | Taiwan | BA | Urgent and acute care, secondary prevention | Various | 24 | 12 |
Process (positive) Patient (no effect) |
[36] |
| Thrombolysis Implementation in Stroke (TIPS) | Levi et al. (2020) | Australia | RCT | Urgent care | Thrombolysis treatment rates | 20 (10) | 16 |
Process (positive) Patient (no effect) Other (no effect) |
[24, 26, 30] |
| Stroke Collaborative Reaching for Excellence (SCORE) | O’Neill et al. (2012) | USA | CS | Acute care | Various | 56 | 48 | Other (no effect) | [29] |
| Stroke 90:10 | Power et al. (2014) | England | RCT | Acute and rehabilitation care | Delivery of early hours and rehabilitation care bundle | 21 (10) | 30 |
Process (positive) Other (no effect) |
[21, 39] |
| QUality Enhancement for Speedy Thrombolysis in Stroke (QUESTS) | Prabhakaran et al. (2016) | USA | ITS | Urgent and acute care | Thrombolysis treatment times | 15 | 12 |
Process (positive) Patient (positive) |
[34] |
| Stroke Collaborative I and II | Schouten et al. (2008) | Netherlands | BA | Acute and rehabilitation care, long-term support | Length of hospital stay/discharge delay, and set up of integrated stroke services | 23 | 16 |
Process (positive) Patient (positive) |
[28, 37] |
| Ambulance Services Cardiovascular Quality Initiative (ASCQI) | Siriwardena et al. (2014) | England | ITS | Urgent care | Delivery of prehospital care bundle | 12 | 25 |
Process (positive) Other (no effect) |
[27, 31, 32] |
| Michigan Acute Stroke Care Overview and Treatment Surveillance System Quality Improvement Project (MASCOTS QIP) | Stoeckle Roberts et al. (2006) | USA | BA | Acute care and secondary prevention | Various | 13 | 6 | Process (positive) | [35] |
| Intervention for Stroke Improvement using Redesign Engineering (INSPIRE) | Williams et al. (2015) | USA | RCT | Acute care | Deep vein thrombolysis and dysphagia screening rates | 11 (5) | 12 |
Process (positive) Other (no effect) |
[23, 40] |
BA before-and-after study, CS cross-sectional study, CVD cardiovascular and/or cerebrovascular disease, ITS interrupted times series study, QIC quality improvement collaborative, RCT randomised controlled trial