Introduction: Prior studies have found conflicting results in regards to whether air or ground transportation to transfer stroke patients is associated with quicker door-in-door-out (DIO) times. We aimed to examine DIO times in acute stroke patients from two community primary stroke centers (one with air/ground; one with dedicated ground transport only) from a similar geographical location. Additionally, we aimed to examine whether there were differences in DIO comparing the hospitals. Methods: We prospectively collected and retrospectively analyzed stroke transfer data from two community hospitals in a health system between 10/1/2018 and 03/31/2020. A hierarchical logistic regression was performed in two steps to determine which factors were associated with DIO ≤ 90 minutes. First, possible confounding variables such as age, gender and arrival mode (EMS or private vehicle) were entered. Next, we entered variables of interest; transfer mode (ground vs air), if the patient was transferred for mechanical endovascular reperfusion (MER) and if the patient was transferred from the hospital with dedicated ground transport or not. A subgroup analysis determined if DIO differed between hospitals. Two-sided Fisher’s exact test examined proportion of DIO ≤ 60 minutes comparing hospitals. Results: During the study 334 patients were transferred [234 hospital with air/ground (100 air, 134 ground) and 100 hospital with dedicated ground transport]. We found that patients were more likely to be transferred within 90 minutes of arrival if: transferred by air, OR = 14.99 (95%CI 4.34 - 51.76) p < 0.001; transferred for MER, OR = 2.97 (95%CI 1.37 - 6.46) p = 0.006 and transferred by dedicated ground transport, OR = 14.93 (95%CI 4.35 - 51.30) p < 0.001. A subgroup analysis suggested that there was no difference in DIO between patients transferred by air or dedicated ground (p = 0.88). Although, we found significantly more patients were transferred within 60 minutes by the hospital utilizing a dedicated EMS (6.0% vs 1.3%), OR = 4.92 (95%CI 1.20 - 20.06) p = 0.02. Conclusions: In conclusion, a dedicated ground transport ambulance allowed for quicker DIO times overall, including a greater proportion of all transfers within 60 minutes but similar DIO times to MER patients transported by air.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.