Emergency Clinical Pathway for Stroke Patients
Author Information
Author(s): De Luca Assunta, Toni Danilo, Lauria Laura, Sacchetti Maria Luisa, Giorgi Rossi Paolo, Ferri Marica, Puca Emanuele, Prencipe Massimiliano, Guasticchi Gabriella
Primary Institution: Public Health Agency of the Latium Region, Rome, Italy
Hypothesis
The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of an emergency clinical pathway (ECP) for stroke patients in the Latium emergency system.
Conclusion
The study suggests that integrating emergency medical services and emergency rooms with stroke unit networks is feasible and may improve the quality of care for stroke patients.
Supporting Evidence
- The intervention arm had a higher proportion of eligible patients referred to the stroke unit compared to the control arm.
- Patients in the intervention group were more likely to receive thrombolysis than those in the control group.
- The study involved 30 entities and created 20 clusters for randomization.
Takeaway
This study shows that training emergency responders to recognize strokes can help more patients get the right care faster.
Methodology
A cluster randomized controlled trial comparing stroke patient referrals by trained emergency medical service and emergency room professionals with non-trained controls.
Potential Biases
Potential over-diagnosing by trained EMS personnel may have influenced the results.
Limitations
The study faced issues with cluster contamination and withdrawal of some participating centers, which may have affected the results.
Participant Demographics
Participants included emergency medical service and emergency room personnel, with a focus on stroke patients aged 80 or less.
Statistical Information
P-Value
p = 0.02
Confidence Interval
95% CI: 1.62–4.98
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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