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Stroke units in I taly: engaging the public in optimizing existing resources
Author(s) -
Baldereschi M.,
Di Carlo A.,
Vaccaro C.,
Toni D.,
Polizzi B.,
Inzitari D.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
european journal of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.881
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1468-1331
pISSN - 1351-5101
DOI - 10.1111/ene.12395
Subject(s) - medicine , stroke (engine) , multivariate analysis , tissue plasminogen activator , affect (linguistics) , family medicine , telephone interview , gerontology , acute stroke , psychology , mechanical engineering , social science , communication , sociology , engineering
Background and purpose The lack of a wide implementation of stroke units ( SU )s in I taly appears to accompany the underuse of the operating units. Community awareness of acute stroke care options may affect stroke resource use. Our aim was to determine the level of knowledge about SU s and tissue‐plasminogen activator (t‐ PA ) treatment amongst I talian adults and investigate its relationship to local stroke services implementation. Methods A nation‐based telephone survey was carried out in a sample of 1000 residents aged >18 years in May–June 2010. The questionnaire included close‐ended questions regarding knowledge of SU s and t‐ PA treatment. Number and location of both SU s and t‐ PA treatments were provided by a concurrent national hospital‐based survey. The prevalence and distribution of acute stroke care awareness in the community was examined and multivariate analyses were generated. Results Amongst the 1000 participants (474 men, mean age 48.8 ± 17.2), only 26.2% reported knowing about the availability of t‐ PA treatment and only 15% were aware of the existence of SU s. Awareness of both SU s and t‐ PA was significantly associated only with education. These associations remained significant in the multivariate analyses. The degree of stroke services implementation (in terms of SU s/inhabitant rates and number of t‐ PA treatments) was not associated with SU and t‐ PA awareness. Conclusions This is the first European study that explored public knowledge about t‐ PA treatment and SU s. Italian adults proved insufficiently educated about SU s and t‐ PA ; there is no higher awareness in areas with a greater supply of stroke services. This might partially explain the underuse of I talian SU s.