Management of stroke in the Australian Indigenous population: from hospitals to communities.

BACKGROUND: Ischaemic strokes lead to significant morbidity and mortality within the Australian Indigenous population, with known variances in the management of strokes between indigenous and non-indigenous populations. AIMS: To compare investigations and management of indigenous and non-indigenous patients presenting to a New South Wales rural referral hospital with an ischaemic stroke to the national stroke standards across inpatient and outpatient settings. METHODS: Historical cohort study of 43 indigenous and 167 non-indigenous patients admitted to Tamworth Rural Referral Hospital with an ischaemic cerebrovascular accident. RESULTS: Indigenous patients were significantly less likely to have investigations completed, including carotid imaging (93.8% vs 100%, P = 0.012) and echocardiography (73.3% vs 97.7%, P = 0.004). Discharge follow up was significantly lower for the indigenous population (74.4% vs 87.4%, P = 0.034). Indigenous stroke patients were 15.8 years younger than non-indigenous subjects (56.8 vs 72.6 years old; P < 0.001). Indigenous patients were more likely to have stroke risk factors, including smoking (51.2% vs 15.0%; P < 0.001), diabetes mellitus (37.2% vs 16.8%, P = 0.003) and past history of cerebrovascular accident or transient ischaemic attack (50.2% vs 31.1%, P = 0.032). CONCLUSIONS: The investigation and post-discharge care of indigenous ischaemic stroke patients is inferior to non-indigenous patients. Indigenous patients within rural NSW have a higher prevalence of preventable disease, including those that confer a higher stroke risk. Further research is needed to investigate the cause of these discrepancies and to improving indigenous stroke care between hospitals and primary care providers.