Table 2.
Comparison of use of care and acute care management quality characteristics between the pre-wave, per-wave and post-wave periods
| Global (N=6436) | Pre-wave (N=4140) | Per-wave (N=1080) | Post-wave (N=1216) | P value corrected (FDR) | |||||
| n | (%) | n | (%) | n | (%) | n | (%) | ||
| Use of care | |||||||||
| Calls to emergency services | 6430 | 4135 | 1079 | 1216 | 0.083* | ||||
| No | 2399 | (37.3) | 1590 | (38.5) | 372 | (34.5) | 437 | (35.9) | |
| Yes | 4031 | (62.7) | 2545 | (61.5) | 707 | (65.5) | 779 | (64.1) | |
| Missing values | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| FMC | 6436 | 4140 | 1080 | 1216 | 0.332* | ||||
| EU | 6278 | (97.5) | 4040 | (97.6) | 1059 | (98.1) | 1179 | (9.0) | |
| MICU | 158 | (2.5) | 100 | (2.4) | 21 | (1.9) | 37 | (3.0) | |
| Symptoms-to-care time (min) | 3157 | 1991 | 556 | 610 | 0.232† | ||||
| Median (IQR) | 126 | (38;401) | 121 | (38;384) | 139 | (46;488) | 125 | (38;392) | |
| Missing values | 3279 | 2149 | 524 | 606 | |||||
| Acute care management quality | |||||||||
| EU admission-to-imaging time (min) | 4819 | 3014 | 889 | 916 | 0.332† | ||||
| Median (IQR) | 86 | (47;194) | 83 | (45;201) | 91 | (51;175) | 88 | (52;191) | |
| Missing values | 1617 | 1126 | 191 | 300 | |||||
| Prehospital pathway type | 6430 | 4135 | 1079 | 1216 | 0.040* | ||||
| Optimal pathway: calls to emergency services/MICU transport/EU | 3719 | (57.8) | 2368 | (57.3) | 642 | (59.5) | 709 | (58.3) | |
| Calls to emergency services/non-MICU transport/EU | 312 | (4.9) | 177 | (4.3) | 65 | (6.0) | 70 | (5.8) | |
| EU direct entry | 2399 | (37.3) | 1590 | (38.5) | 372 | (34.5) | 437 | (35.9) | |
| Missing values | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Mode of transport to the EU | 6436 | 4140 | 1080 | 1216 | 0.812* | ||||
| Personal transport | 732 | (11.4) | 475 | (11.5) | 117 | (10.8) | 140 | (11.5) | |
| Non-MICU transport | 4495 | (69.8) | 2902 | (70.1) | 758 | (70.2) | 835 | (68.7) | |
| MICU transport | 222 | (3.4) | 149 | (3.6) | 34 | (3.1) | 39 | (3.2) | |
| Unknown | 987 | (15.3) | 614 | (14.8) | 171 | (15.8) | 202 | (16.6) | |
| Transfer to a stroke unit | 6436 | 4140 | 1080 | 1216 | 0.923* | ||||
| No | 752 | (11.7) | 484 | (11.7) | 123 | (11.4) | 145 | (11.9) | |
| Yes | 5684 | (88.3) | 3656 | (88.3) | 957 | (88.6) | 1071 | (88.1) | |
| First imaging type | 6041 | 3870 | 1019 | 1152 | 0.332‡ | ||||
| MRI | 3782 | (62.6) | 2395 | (61.9) | 650 | (63.8) | 737 | (64.0) | |
| CT scan | 2245 | (37.2) | 1463 | (37.8) | 369 | (36.2) | 413 | (35.9) | |
| None | 14 | (0.2) | 12 | (0.3) | 0 | (0.0) | 2 | (0.2) | |
| Missing values | 395 | 270 | 61 | 64 | |||||
| IVT (all ischaemic strokes) | 5660 | 3616 | 938 | 1106 | 0.011* | ||||
| No | 4635 | (81.9) | 2913 | (80.6) | 801 | (85.4) | 921 | (83.3) | |
| Yes | 1025 | (18.1) | 703 | (19.4) | 137 | (14.6) | 185 | (16.7) | |
| Missing values | 9 | 1 | 3 | 5 | |||||
| Exclusion | 767 | 523 | 139 | 105 | |||||
| IVT in ‘thrombolysis alert’ patients (ischaemic stroke) | 1758 | 1100 | 310 | 348 | 0.011* | ||||
| No | 1060 | (60.3) | 634 | (57.6) | 213 | (68.7) | 213 | (61.2) | |
| Yes | 698 | (39.7) | 466 | (42.4) | 97 | (31.3) | 135 | (38.8) | |
| Missing values | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| Exclusion | 4676 | 3039 | 770 | 867 | |||||
| Mechanical thrombectomy (all ischaemic stroke) | 5620 | 3585 | 938 | 1097 | 0.332* | ||||
| No | 4998 | (88.9) | 3170 | (88.4) | 842 | (89.8) | 986 | (89.9) | |
| Yes | 622 | (11.1) | 415 | (11.6) | 96 | (10.2) | 111 | (10.1) | |
| Missing values | 49 | 32 | 3 | 14 | |||||
| Exclusion | 767 | 523 | 139 | 105 | |||||
Stroke cohort (N=6436).
*χ2 test.
†Kruskal-Wallis test.
‡Fisher exact test.
CT, computerized tomography scan; EU, emergency unit; FDR, correction of p value by false discovery rate method; FMC, first medical contact; IVT, IV thrombolysis; MICU, mobile intensive care units; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging.