ABSTRACT
Objective Based on Chinese guidelines for the management of ischemic stroke, a standardized stroke management program was performed to provide intensive education and training for medical physicians, aiming to enhance their knowledge and ability for ischemic stroke prevention and treatment, thereby reducing patients′ in-hospital cost and length of stay, and improving patients′ clinical prognosis. Methods This study was conducted in 20 general hospitals throughout Hainan province. A total of 163 physicians from 20 hospitals involved in the management of stroke patients were trained by highly experienced physicians based on the Chinese guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of acute ischemic stroke 2014 and the Chinese guidelines for secondary prevention of ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack 2014. Prior to and post the standardized stroke management training, the data of 3218 and 3367 patients with ischemic stroke were respectively collected. Quality of life assessments including the Barthel index (BI) and the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of all patients were recorded at baseline and after discharge. The length of stay and in-hospital cost were directly collected from the hospital information system. Results Physicians′ knowledge and ability manifested as testing scores were significantly improved after training (78.2 ± 15.5 vs 55.6 ± 10.7, t=69.1, P<0.01). The average length of stay of post-training patients was significantly shorter than that of pre-training patients ((8.7 ± 0.9) vs (11.7 ± 1.5) days, t=97.9, P<0.01). The average in-hospital cost of post-training patients was significantly less than that of pre-training patients ((7681.7 ± 1397.7) vs (11846.2 ± 2514.6) Yuan, t=82.5, P<0.01). Both BI (68.2 ± 3.2 vs 43.5 ± 5.3, t=227.7, P<0.01) and mRS score (2.74±0.51 vs 3.65±0.71, t=59.5, P<0.01) were significantly improved for post-training patients. Multivariate linear regression analysis illustrated that standardized stroke management was negatively associated with in-hospital cost (r=-0.461, P<0.01), length of stay (r=-0.357, P<0.01) and mRS score (r=-0.298, P<0.01), and was positively associated with levels of BI (r=0.376, P<0.01). Conclusion Standardized stroke management program might be a cost-effective choice for the management of ischemic stroke as it reduces the in-hospital cost and improves patients′BI and mRS levels.