You are viewing the site in preview mode

Skip to main content

Table 2 A comparison of the hospital course, management and outcomes of suspected stroke patients using emergency medical services vs. non-emergency medical services users

From: Emergency medical services utilization in acute stroke in Qatar - an observational cohort study

Variables

Category

Use of Emergency Medical Services (EMS), n (%)

Total

Odds Ratio

95% CI

p-value

  

Yes, n = 7734 (%)

No, n = 4158 (%)

N = 11,892 (%)

   

NIHSSa at admission, n I (%)

0 (No symptom)

2069 (27.3)

1536 (37.4)

3605 (30.8)

0.63

0 0.58–0.68

< 0.001

 

1–4

2846 (37.5)

1847 (44.9)

4693 (40.1)

0.73

0.68–0.79

< 0.001

 

5–15

1904 (25.1)

586 (14.3)

2490 (21.3)

2.01

1.82–2.23

< 0.001

 

16–20

374 (4.9)

67 (1.6)

441 (3.8)

3.13

2.41–4.06

< 0.001

 

20 and over>

397 (5.2)

74 (1.8)

471 (4.0)

3.01

2.34–3.86

< 0.001

Door to needle time (Median, IQR), mins

 

49 (31–69)

62 (47–99)

52 (34–73)

  

< 0.001

Thrombolysis (tPA given) n, % of IS

Total

645 (16.8)

138 (6.9)

783 (13.4)

2.65

2.18–3.21

< 0.001

 

Ischemic stroke

603 (15.8)

122 (6.1)

725 (12.4)

2.87

2.33–3.54

< 0.001

 

TIA

4 (0.1)

5 (0.2)

9 (0.1)

0.65

0.12–3.04

0.52

 

Mimic

37 (0.9)

11 (0.5)

48 (0.8)

2.19

1.08–4.77

< 0.05

 

CVST

1 (0.02)

0 (0)

1 (0.02)

  

0.45

Thrombectomy, n (% of IS)

 

230 (6.0)

37 (1.9)

267 (4.6)

3.4

2.4–4.8

< 0.001

Disposition, n (%)

Home

5139 (66.5)

3367 (80.9)

8506 (71.5)

0.46

0.42–0.51

< 0.001

 

Rehab

1324 (17.1)

320 (7.7)

1644 (13.8)

2.47

2.17–2.81

< 0.001

 

Long term care

285 (3.7)

68 (1.6)

353 (2.9)

2.30

1.76-3.00

< 0.001

 

Died in Hospital

219 (2.8)

66 (1.6)

285 (2.4)

1.80

1.36–2.38

< 0.001

 

Other specialty

767 (9.9)

337 (8.1)

1104 (9.3)

1.24

1.09–1.42

< 0.01

Length of stay (mean ± SD) in days

Total population

5.7 ± 8.7

4.3 ± 9.4

5.2 ± 9.0

  

< 0.001

 

Ischemic stroke

6.4 ± 9.5

5.05 ± 5.9

5.9 ± 8.5

  

< 0.001

 

TIA

2.08 ± 2.1

2.6 ± 8.7

2.3 ± 6.1

  

0.42

 

ICH

11.7 ± 11.3

11.2 ± 17.0

11.6 ± 12.4

  

< 0.01

 

Mimic

2.4 ± 3.1

2.6 ± 11.4

2.5 ± 7.5

  

< 0.001

 

CVST

8.5 ± 8.4

5.9 ± 4.9

7.6 ± 7.4

  

0.08

Discharge mRSb 0–2, n (%)

Total

4774 (61.9)

3290 (79.4)

8064 (67.9)

0.43

0.39–0.46

< 0.001

 

Ischemic stroke

2080 (54.5)

1409 (71.1)

3489 (60.2)

0.72

0.66–0.78

< 0.001

 

TIA

622 (92.2)

529 (96.2)

1151 (93.9)

0.59

0.53–0.68

< 0.001

 

ICH

303 (28.3)

111 (48.5)

414 (31.8)

1.48

1.19–1.85

< 0.001

 

Mimic

1687 (81.9)

1195 (89.9)

2882 (85.1)

0.69

0.63–0.75

< 0.001

 

CVST

82 (82.8)

46 (85.2)

128 (83.6)

0.96

0.67–1.37

0.82

mRSb 0–2 at 90 days follow up, n (%) (n = 7005)

Total

3032 (66.6)

2064 (84.0)

5096 (72.7)

0.65

0.61–0.71

< 0.001

 

Ischemic stroke

1753 (63.9)

1160 (80.0)

2913 (41.6)

0.75

0.69–0.83

< 0.001

 

TIA

533 (93.2)

482 (96.7)

1015 (14.5)

0.56

0.49–0.64

< 0.001

 

ICH

304 (39.8)

97 (56.4)

401 (5.7)

1.71

1.36–2.16

< 0.001

 

Mimic

377 (94.5)

283 (96.6)

660 (9.4)

0.70

0.56–0.82

< 0.001

 

CVST

65 (90.3)

42 (95.4)

107 (1.5)

0.83

0.56–1.22

0.35

Dead at discharge (n, % of deaths for each category)

Total

211 (2.7)

66 (1.6)

277 (2.3)

1.74

1.32–2.29

< 0.001

 

Ischemic stroke

80 (2.1)

35 (1.7)

115 (0.9)

1.19

0.80–1.77

0.38

 

TIA

0

0

0

   
 

ICH

115 (10.7)

27 (11.8)

142 (1.2)

0.89

0.57–1.39

0.63

 

Mimic

16 (0.8)

3 (0.2)

19 (0.2)

3.45

1.07–11.1

< 0.05

 

CVST

0

1 (1.8)

1 (0.01)

   

Complications, n (%)

Pneumonia

375 (4.8)

79 (1.9)

454 (3.8)

2.63

2.05–3.40

< 0.001

 

UTI

277 (3.6)

52 (1.3)

329 (2.7)

2.93

2.16–4.03

< 0.001

 

DVT/PE

6 (0.1)

7 (0.2)

13 (0.1)

0.46

0.12–1.60

0.15

 

Bedsores

47 (0.6)

18 (0.4)

65 (0.5)

1.40

0.80–2.57

0.21

 

Sepsis

268 (3.5)

84 (2)

352 (2.9)

1.74

1.35–2.25

< 0.001

  1. (a) NIHSS: National Institute of health stroke scale - NIHSS is a standardized assessment tool used to assess stroke severity based on neurological function. Score ranges from 0 to 42, with higher scores indicating greater stroke severity
  2. (b) mRS: Modified Rankin Scale– mRS scale is used to evaluate disability and functional independence following stroke. Score ranges from 0 to 6, where 0 indicates no symptoms, 1–2 reflects slight disability, 3–5 indicates moderate to severe disability, and 6 represents death
  3. IQR: Interquartile range, CI: Confidence interval, TIA: Transient ischemic attack, ICH: Intracerebral hemorrhage, CVST: Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, UTI: Urinary tract infection, PE: Pulmonary embolism
Back to article page

International Journal of Emergency Medicine

ISSN: 1865-1380

Contact us