Factors associated with a rapid call for assistance for patients with ischemic stroke.

OBJECTIVES

To identify factors related to a rapid response to the onset of symptoms and a call for help for patients with ischemic stroke.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Observational cross-sectional study of all patients with ischemic stroke admitted consecutively to Hospital Universitario de Burgos in Spain during 1 year. We collected sociodemographic, clinical, behavioral, cognitive, and contextual data for all patients and applied uni- and multivariate analysis to explore possible associations with the patient's response time.

RESULTS

A total of 425 patients were included. The mean patient response time was 140.00 minutes. Patient delay accounted for 72.6% of the total prehospital response time. Factors associated with a rapid call for help were the presence of an accompanying person (OR, 9.57; 95% CI, 3.89-23.52), daytime onset of symptoms (OR, 8.77; 3.40- 22.63), patient knowledge of how to act in case of stroke symptoms (OR, 3.84; 2.77-7.09), first medical contact through the public health system's emergency medical service (OR, 3.03; 1.62-5.68), patient perception of symptoms as severe or very severe (OR, 2.38; 1.17-4.83), and stroke onset in an urban area (OR, 2.17; 1.16-4.06).

CONCLUSION

The patient's response time between onset of symptoms is related to behavioral, cognitive and contextual factors that should be taken into account when planning future patient education campaigns.