Abstract 13608: Center Variation in Home Time Following Acute Ischemic Stroke

Abstract

Background: Stroke survivors have identified that home time is a high priority outcome, but there are limited data on factors associated with time at home following stroke as well as the degree to which home time varies among discharging hospitals. Methods: PROSPER is a PCORI-funded program designed with stroke survivors to evaluate post-stroke therapies and outcomes. We linked data for patients >65 years old who were enrolled in the GWTG-Stroke Registry to Medicare claims to ascertain home time, defined as time spent alive and out of a hospital or skilled nursing facility, at 90 days and 1 year after discharge for ischemic stroke. We used generalized mixed models with random effects to estimate adjusted mean home time for each hospital, accounting for patient characteristics. We then used linear regression to assess hospital factors associated with risk-adjusted home time. Results: From 2007-2011, 156,869 ischemic stroke patients at 1417 hospitals were linked to Medicare claims. Home time varied among hospitals, with overall unadjusted median home time (IQR) of 59.5 days (55.7-63.2) over the first 90 days and 270 days (256.0-281.1) over the first year. Hospital factors associated with more home time over 90 days included higher annual stroke volume; South, West, or Midwest geographic regions (vs. Northeast); and rural location (Table). Similar patterns were observed at 1 year. Compared with patients in the highest hospital home time quartile, patients in the lowest were older, more likely to be female, had more comorbidities, and had more severe strokes by NIHSS. Home time variation decreased after adjustment, with a median of 59.3 days (57.4-61.4) over 90 days and 270 days (266.3-274.2) over 1 year. Conclusions: In a population of older ischemic stroke survivors, home time after discharge varies by hospital stroke volume, severity case mix, and region. In adjusted analyses, hospital stroke volume and rural location were associated with more days at home following stroke.