Relationship between the Time Interval between the Onset of Stroke Symptoms and Referral to the Emergency Department with Demographic Characteristics of Patients with Cerebrovascular Accidents

Early referral after stroke and the use of modern intravenous therapies and blood pressure control accelerates the improvement of post-stroke symptoms. Therefore, this study was performed to investigate the relationship between the time interval between the onset of stroke symptoms and referral to the emergency department with demographic characteristics of patients with cerebrovascular accidents referred to the emergency department of Imam Khomeini Hospital in Urmia in the first half of 2018.

This descriptive-analytical study was performed on 296 patients referred to Imam Khomeini Hospital in Urmia in the first half of 2018 by census method. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire.

In this study, the mean age of patients was 68.87±14.75 years, of which 153 (51.7%) were male and 143 (48.3%) were female. The mean time from the onset of symptoms to the emergency room was 36.21 ± 4.04 hours, the mean time required to reach the emergency room was 35.98± 2.48 minutes and the mean distance to the time of arrival to the emergency room was 41.11± 3.95 km, 291 patients (98.3%) had ischemic stroke and 5 patients (1.7%) had hemorrhagic stroke. Dimensions, level of education of the patient and his companions and the mode of transmission had a significant relationship with the delay in visiting the hospital emergency department.

The results of our study, like other studies, showed that the time to go to the hospital to treat patients after a stroke has a high average, and factors such as long distance from the treatment center, how patients are transferred, level of education that can indicate insufficient knowledge in clinical signs of stroke were involved in this affair.