Tiempos de llegada de pacientes con ataque cerebrovascular en un hospital regional de alta complejidad / Arrival times of patients with stroke to a public hospital

ABSTRACT

Background: Stroke is a time-dependent emergency. Most patients with acute ischemic stroke are excluded from reperfusion therapies due to late consultation. Aims: To estimate the arrival times of patients with stroke to the Emergency Room (ER) of a public hospital. To identify factors associated with early consultation. Material and Methods: A convenience sample, 583 patients aged 71 ± 13 years (55% males) consulting for stroke at an emergency room was analyzed in terms of delay between onset of symptoms and arrival to the ER, demographics and etiology of stroke. Results: The admission diagnoses were ischemic stroke in 76%, intracerebral hemorrhage in 12%, transient ischemic attack in 9% and subarachnoid hemorrhage in 3%. The median time of arrival was 8 hours and 11 minutes after the onset of symptoms. Nineteen percent of consultations for ischemic stroke occurred within 3 hours of symptom onset, and 38% within 6 hours. In the logistic regression analysis, having an address near the hospital and the severity of stroke were associated with early consultation with a combined odds ratio of 5.97 (95% confidence intervals 3.23-11.04). Conclusions: There were significant differences in the arrival times of patients with stroke. Only a low proportion of patients with ischemic stroke consulted within the window for reperfusion therapies. Severe strokes and living near the hospital were associated with early consultation.