Abstract W MP99: Seven-Day Mortality After Ischemic Stroke: International Comparison Among Industrialized Nations

Abstract

Introduction: Stroke is the 2 nd leading cause of death worldwide, yet best practices for acute stroke care are lacking even among premier hospitals in industrialized countries. We compared 7-day mortality after ischemic stroke between academic medical centers in the Netherlands (NL), United Kingdom (UK), and United States (US). Methods: This was an observational study using in-hospital administrative data from select academic medical centers in the NL (n=8), UK (n=10), and US (n=11) from 2005-12. Chi-square was used to compare 7-day in-hospital mortality between countries and across years, and to explore the effect of weekend admission. Multiple logistic regression was conducted to further examine factors associated with mortality, including sex, age, weekend admission, year, and country. Results: From 2005-12, 51,409 patients were discharged with ischemic stroke from hospitals in the NL (n=6331), UK (n=25574), and US (n=19204). Mortality was significantly higher in the UK (8.1%) compared to the NL (6.4%) and US (4.8%) (p<0.0001). Moreover, mortality was higher in patients admitted on week-ends compared to weekdays in the UK (9.2% vs. 7.7%, p=0.0001), but not in the NL (6.8% vs. 6.3%, p=0.44) or US (4.8% vs. 4.9%, p=0.73). This “week-end effect” was consistent throughout all hospitals in the UK (p=0.0002) but much more variable in hospitals in the other two countries. In the UK, 7-day mortality improved with time, declining from 10.7% in 2006 to 6.3% in 2012 (p<0.0001). A decline in mortality was also seen in the NL (p=0.03), but remained unchanged in the US (p=0.72). The UK “weekend effect” also disappeared with time. Multiple logistic regression demonstrated that country and weekend admission remained a significant risk factor associated with mortality after controlling for age, gender, and year. Conclusions: A comparison of 7-day mortality among academic medical centers in industrialized counties reveals stark variability. Although 2006 stroke mortality in UK hospitals was almost double that of US hospitals, dramatic reductions were subsequently seen. Further analysis of national policy or practice changes that have driven these improvements promise to be revealing.