[Impacts of stroke clinics on the utilization of statins for secondary prevention of ischemic stroke].

OBJECTIVE: To describe the impact of stroke clinic on the usage of statins for secondary prevention of ischemic stroke. METHODS: Data about the demography, social economic status, personal histories, blood lipid profiles, and the status of the usage of statins from 568 serial ischemic stroke patients were retrospectively analysed. RESULTS: A total of 51.3% patients followed up in stroke clinic (306 patients) and 7.6% patients followed up in general clinic (262 patients) were treated with statins. 71.6% patients with and 44.8% patients without hyperlipidemia in stroke clinics were taking statins, which were higher than that patients in the general clinics (27.1% and 2.0% respectively). The patients in the stroke clinics with high LDL-C level (>3.4 mmol/L) were more likely to be treated with statins than those with lower level (25.6% vs 14.7%, P=0.017). CONCLUSIONS: The rate of statins usage is extremely low in stroke patients followed up in a general clinic, but it can been improved greatly in a stroke clinic. Stroke clinic can narrow the gap between the clinical practice and the guideline for secondary prevention of ischemic stroke.