Background: Care transitions from hospital to home are a critical period for patients and their families, especially after a stroke. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility, fidelity and acceptability of a co-designed care transition support for stroke survivors.
Methods: A non-randomised controlled feasibility study recruiting patients who had had stroke and who were to be discharged home and referred to a neurorehabilitation team in primary healthcare was conducted.
Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) screening after ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) is given high priority in clinical guidelines. However, patient selection, electrocardiogram (ECG) modality and screening duration remains undecided and current recommendations vary.
Methods: The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical practice of AF screening after ischemic stroke or TIA at Swedish stroke units.
Introduction: Care transitions following a stroke call for integrated care approaches to reduce death and disability. The proposed research described in this study protocol aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a person-centred multicomponent care transition support and the process in terms of contextual moderators, implementation aspects and mechanisms of impact.
Methods: A non-randomized controlled trial design will be used.
Background: Tranexamic acid reduced haematoma expansion and early death, but did not improve functional outcome in the tranexamic acid for hyperacute spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage-2 (TICH-2) trial. In a predefined subgroup, there was a statistically significant interaction between prerandomisation baseline systolic blood pressure (SBP) and the effect of tranexamic acid on functional outcome (p=0.019).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe study aimed to investigate whether a structured discharge letter and the use of the person-centred communication method Teach Back for sharing information at hospital discharge could support perceived understanding and knowledge of and adherence to prescribed medication for secondary prevention after stroke. Data from a feasibility study of a codesigned care transition support for people with stroke was used. Patients who at discharge received both a structured discharge letter and participated in the person-centred communication method Teach Back ( = 17) were compared with patients receiving standard discharge procedures ( = 21).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Evidence-based recommendations for a core outcome set (COS; minimum set of outcomes) for aphasia treatment research have been developed (the Research Outcome Measurement in Aphasia-ROMA, COS). Five recommended core outcome constructs: communication, language, quality of life, emotional well-being and patient-reported satisfaction/impact of treatment, were identified through three international consensus studies. Constructs were paired with outcome measurement instruments (OMIs) during an international consensus meeting (ROMA-1).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Clinicians and researchers have addressed concerns about the negative impact of COVID-19 outbreaks on the ability of health care systems to provide timely assessment and acute therapies to patients with stroke. The aim of this study is to describe stroke care during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the same period the year before at an acute care hospital in Sweden.
Materials And Methods: In this cohort study data were collected from March 1 to August 31 in 2019 and 2020 on all patients diagnosed with stroke and TIA and registered at Danderyd Hospital in the national quality registry (Riksstroke).
Introduction: The Stockholm Stroke Triage System (SSTS) is a prehospital triage system for detection of patients eligible for endovascular thrombectomy (EVT). Assessment of hemiparesis combined with ambulance-hospital teleconsultation is used to route patients directly to the thrombectomy centre. Some patients are not identified and require secondary transport for EVT (undertriage) while others taken to the thrombectomy centre do not undergo EVT (overtriage).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: There is a lack of knowledge about patients' journeys across the stroke care continuum, especially regarding the transition from inpatient to outpatient care and rehabilitation. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to explore and describe patterns of healthcare use over a one-year period, health outcomes at 3 and 12 months for patients following a referral-based transition to subsequent rehabilitation in the home, and the caregiver burden on their significant others. A further aim was to explore factors associated with the use of rehabilitation and healthcare after the referral-based transition to continued rehabilitation in the home for people recovering from a stroke.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Stroke rehabilitation interventions are routinely personalized to address individuals' needs, goals, and challenges based on evidence from aggregated randomized controlled trials (RCT) data and meta-syntheses. Individual participant data (IPD) meta-analyses may better inform the development of precision rehabilitation approaches, quantifying treatment responses while adjusting for confounders and reducing ecological bias.
Aim: We explored associations between speech and language therapy (SLT) interventions frequency (days/week), intensity (h/week), and dosage (total SLT-hours) and language outcomes for different age, sex, aphasia severity, and chronicity subgroups by undertaking prespecified subgroup network meta-analyses of the RELEASE database.
Background: Care transitions following stroke should be bridged with collaboration between hospital staff and home rehabilitation teams since well-coordinated transitions can reduce death and disability following a stroke. However, health services are delivered within organisational structures, rather than being based on patients' needs. The aim of this study protocol is to assess the feasibility, operationalised here as fidelity and acceptability, of a codesigned care transition support for people with stroke.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Seeking consent rapidly in acute stroke trials is crucial as interventions are time sensitive. We explored the association between consent pathways and time to enrollment in the TICH-2 (Tranexamic Acid in Intracerebral Haemorrhage-2) randomized controlled trial.
Methods: Consent was provided by patients or by a relative or an independent doctor in incapacitated patients, using a 1-stage (full written consent) or 2-stage (initial brief consent followed by full written consent post-randomization) approach.
Objective: Carotid stenosis is a major risk factor for stroke and surgical treatment is key in preventing recurrent ischaemic events. Previous randomised trials have demonstrated the net benefit of surgery for significant symptomatic carotid stenosis but, with present day medical treatment, there is limited evidence on the risk of late ipsilateral ischaemic stroke (IS) and its main risk factors.
Method: Ipsilateral IS after the peri-operative period (≤ 30 days) was investigated in a nationwide, registry based cohort study of patients treated for symptomatic carotid stenosis in Sweden between 2008 - 2017.
Background And Purpose: The Stockholm Stroke Triage System (SSTS) is a prehospital algorithm for detection of endovascular thrombectomy (EVT)-eligible patients, combining symptom severity assessment and ambulance-to-hospital teleconsultation, leading to a decision on primary stroke center bypass. In the Stockholm Region (6 primary stroke centers, 1 EVT center), SSTS implementation in October 2017 reduced onset-to-EVT time by 69 minutes. We compared clinical outcomes before and after implementation of SSTS in an observational study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Despite intentions to increase user participation in the development of health services, the concept of participation and how it unfolds within studies with a participatory design has rarely been addressed.
Objective: The aim of this study was to describe how user participation manifests itself within a co-design process involving patients, significant others and health-care professionals, including potential enablers or barriers.
Methods: This study was conducted in the context of a co-design process of a new person-centred transition from a hospital to continued rehabilitation in the home involving three patients with stroke, one significant other and 11 professionals.
Background Antiplatelet therapy increases the risk of hematoma expansion in intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) while the effect on functional outcome is uncertain. Methods and Results This is an exploratory analysis of the TICH-2 (Tranexamic Acid in Intracerebral Hemorrhage-2) double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, which studied the efficacy of tranexamic acid in patients with spontaneous ICH within 8 hours of onset. Multivariable logistic regression and ordinal regression were performed to explore the relationship between pre-ICH antiplatelet therapy, and 24-hour hematoma expansion and day 90 modified Rankin Scale score, as well as the effect of tranexamic acid.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThrombin is increasingly recognized to be of importance for cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of thrombin generation variables in a cohort of patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) or transient ischemic attack (TIA). Thrombin generation potential measured by calibrated automated thrombogram (CAT) and prothrombin fragment F1 + 2 was determined in the acute and convalescent phases for a cohort of 190 patients with AIS/TIA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The modified Rankin scale (mRS) is the most common assessment tool for measuring overall functional outcome in stroke studies. The traditional way of using mRS face-to-face is time- and cost-consuming. The aim of this study was to test the validity of the Swedish translation of the simplified modified Rankin scale questionnaire (smRSq) as compared with the mRS assessed face-to-face 6 months after a stroke.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To explore the perceived quality of care transitions from hospital to the home with referral to subsequent rehabilitation in the home, and factors associated with low perceived quality, in people with stroke.
Design: Observational study.
Setting And Participants: Eligible were patients with a suspected acute stroke admitted to 1 of 4 inpatient hospital units in the Stockholm region and discharged home with referral to a neurorehabilitation team in primary care.
Background: Stroke has transitioned from an untreatable, unpreventable disease to a highly treatable and preventable disease over recent decades, and the number of stroke survivors is expected to increase. The number is also foreseen to grow larger as a result of an aging population. With an escalating number of stroke survivors, research on how to improve life after stroke is needed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImportance: To our knowledge, it is unknown whether a prehospital stroke triage system combining symptom severity and teleconsultation could accurately select patients for primary stroke center bypass and hasten delivery of endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) without delaying intravenous thrombolysis (IVT).
Objective: To evaluate the predictive performance of the newly implemented Stockholm Stroke Triage System (SSTS) for large-artery occlusion (LAO) stroke and EVT initiation. Secondary objectives included evaluating whether the Stockholm Stroke Triage System shortened onset-to-puncture time for EVT and onset-to-needle time (ONT) for IVT.
Background: Speech and language therapy (SLT) benefits people with aphasia following stroke. Group level summary statistics from randomised controlled trials hinder exploration of highly complex SLT interventions and a clinically relevant heterogeneous population. Creating a database of individual participant data (IPD) for people with aphasia aims to allow exploration of individual and therapy-related predictors of recovery and prognosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlatelet microvesicles (PMV) have previously been found elevated in acute ischemic stroke (IS) and could be biomarkers for risk of recurrence. PMV surface antigens such as P-selectin and phosphatidylserine (PS) reflect platelet activation and procoagulance. Tissue factor-positive microvesicles (TFMV) are considered procoagulant, in particular if co-expressing PS.
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