Impact of stroke unit in a public hospital on length of hospitalization and rate of early mortality of ischemic stroke patients

• Autor(a) principal: Rocha,Maria Sheila G.
• Data de Publicação: 2013
• Outros Autores: Almeida,Ana Claudia F., Abath Neto,Osorio, Porto,Marianna P. R., Brucki,Sonia Maria D.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0004-282X2013001100774
• topic: mortality; stroke; stroke unit; hospitalization length

We ascertained whether a public health stroke unit reduces the length of hospitalization, the rate of inpatient fatality, and the mortality rate 30 days after the stroke. Methods We compared a cohort of stroke patients managed on a general neurology/medical ward with a similar cohort of stroke patients managed in a str oke unit. The in-patient fatality rates and 30-day mortality rates were analyzed. Results 729 patients were managed in the general ward and 344 were treated at a comprehensive stroke unit. The in-patient fatality rates were 14.7% for the general ward group and 6.9% for the stroke unit group (p<0.001). The overall mortality rate 30 days after stroke was 20.9% for general ward patients and 14.2% for stroke unit patients (p=0.005). Conclusions We observed reduced in-patient fatalities and 30-day mortality rates in patients managed in the stroke unit. There was no impact on the length of hospitalization.