Prestroke selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor use and functional outcomes after ischaemic stroke.

Background: Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have been implicated in contributing to recovery after acute ischaemic stroke. In particular, poststroke initiation of an SSRI has been demonstrated to improve motor recovery. The role of prestroke SSRI use on functional outcomes and stroke recovery is less clear. We aimed to examine the effect of prestroke SSRI use on metrics of hospitalisation and functional recovery. Methods: We included 4968 consecutive patients from January 2006 to June 2015 in our local Get With The Guidelines-Stroke registry in whom a preadmission drug list could be extracted from an administrative research data registry. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify predictors of functional outcomes. Results: On univariate analysis, among 4698 ischaemic strokes (740 SSRI users and 3948 non-users), SSRI use before acute ischaemic stroke did not impact the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) admission score, length of stay or rate of symptomatic haemorrhage. Patients using SSRIs prior to their stroke were more likely to present with weakness (57% vs 47.3%; P<0.001) and have hospitalisations complicated by pneumonia (7.6% vs 5.7%; P<0.001). Moreover, prestroke SSRI use was associated with a negative impact on ambulatory status at discharge and discharge to home. On multivariate regression analysis, SSRI use was associated with lower likelihood of discharge to home (adjusted OR 0.79, 95% CI 0.62 to 0.997, P<0.05). Conclusions: SSRI use preceding an acute ischaemic stroke is associated with lower rates of discharge to home despite no significant increase in length of stay or NIHSS score.

Frequent Hub-Spoke Contact Is Associated with Improved Spoke Hospital Performance: Results from the Massachusetts General Hospital Telestroke Network.

BACKGROUND: For acute ischemic stroke patients, shorter time to thrombolytic (tissue plasminogen activator [tPA]) is associated with improved outcomes. INTRODUCTION: Telestroke increases tPA use at spoke hospitals, yet its effect on door-to-needle (DTN) times for tPA administration is unknown. We hypothesize that spoke hospitals with more frequent contact to a hub hospital will have shorter DTN times than those with less frequent contact. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We identified 375 patients treated with tPA by conventional or telestroke methods in an academic hub-and-spoke telestroke network for whom date and time data were available. Strength of the spoke-hub connection was the primary predictor variable, defined as the number of all telestroke consults (tPA and non-tPA) done at each spoke hospital during the year of the patient's presentation. Patient-level regression analyses examined the relationship between DTN time and spoke-hub connection during the year of the patient's presentation, controlling for temporal trends and clustering within hospitals. RESULTS: Sixteen spoke hospitals contributed data on 375 tPA-treated patients from 2006-2015. Hospitals treated a median of 13.5 patients with tPA per year; median hospital-level DTN was 78.8 min (interquartile range [IQR] 71.3-85). Median number of telestroke consults per year was 34 (range 3-137). Among all 375 patients, median DTN was 76 min (IQR 60-97). Strength of spoke-hub connection was significantly associated with faster DTN time for patients (1.3 min gain per 10 additional consults, p = 0.048). CONCLUSIONS: More frequent contact between a telestroke spoke and its hub was associated with faster tPA delivery for patients, even after accounting for secular trends in DTN improvements.

Professional Medical Interpreters Influence the Quality of Acute Ischemic Stroke Care for Patients Who Speak Languages Other than English.

BACKGROUND: The inability to communicate effectively in a common language can jeopardize clinicians' efforts to provide quality patient care. Professional medical interpreters (PMIs) can help provide linguistically appropriate health care, in particular for the >25 million Americans who identify speaking English less than very well. We aimed to evaluate the relationship between use of PMIs and quality of acute ischemic stroke care received by patients who preferred to have their medical care in languages other than English. METHODS AND RESULTS: We analyzed data from 259 non-English-preferring acute ischemic stroke patients who participated in the American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines-Stroke program at our hospital from January 1, 2003, to April 30, 2014. We used descriptive statistics and logistic regression models to examine associations between involvement of PMIs and patients' receipt of defect-free stroke care. A total of 147 of 259 (57%) non-English-preferring patients received PMI services during their hospital stays. Multivariable analyses adjusting for other socioeconomic factors showed that acute ischemic stroke patients who did not receive PMIs had lower odds of receiving defect-free stroke care (odds ratio: 0.52; P=0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that PMIs may influence the quality of acute ischemic stroke care.