Demographic and clinical characteristics for patients who presented to the emergency department at Health Sciences North with ischemic stroke symptoms between May 1, 2016, and Apr. 30, 2017*
| Characteristic | No. (%) of patients† | n = 71 Median (IQR) |
|---|---|---|
| Age, yr | 71 | 67 (58–81) range: 38–92 |
| Sex | ||
| Men | 44 (62) | NA |
| Women | 27 (38) | NA |
| Time intervals, hh:mm‡ | ||
| From onset to presentation§ | ||
| Patients with sudden-onset stroke, non–bypass protocol¶ | 47 (66) | 1:30 (0:51–2:49) |
| Patients with stroke on awakening | 5 (7) | 4:35 (4:15–8:52)†† |
| Patients with bypass protocol or who presented to other ED | 12 (17) | 2:28 (1:57–4:40) |
| From presentation to imaging** | 71 (100) | 0:12 (0:06–0:41) |
| From presentation to assessment by stroke on-call physician** | 66 (93) | 0:39 (0:24–1:11) |
| NIHSS, mean score ± SD | 7.04 ± 6.50 | NA |
| Score 0–4 | 24 (34) | NA |
| Score 5–14 | 16 (23) | NA |
| Score 15–24 | 5 (7) | NA |
| Score ≥ 25 | 2 (3) | NA |
| Not available or not completed | 24 (34) | NA |
| Prestroke functionality | ||
| Independent | 66 (93) | NA |
| Required assistance | 5 (7) | NA |
| Dependent | 0 (0) | NA |
| Received tPA | 28 (39) | |
| Time from presentation to tPA, hh:mm | 26 | 0:59 (0:50–1:25) |
| Time from stroke onset to tPA, hh:mm | 27 | 3:06 (2:06–4:09) |
Note: ED = emergency department, hh:mm = hours:minutes, IQR = interquartile range, NA = not applicable, NIHSS = National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (completed at time of stroke on-call assessment), SD = standard deviation, tPA = tissue plasminogen activator.
↵* All patients presented within 24 h of symptom onset, and all were assessed by a stroke on-call physician.
↵† Except where indicated otherwise.
↵‡ For determination of time intervals, presentation is defined as the time of arrival to hospital.
↵§ For time from onset to presentation, in-house strokes were not included. For patients with stroke on awakening, time to presentation is from the time the patient was last observed in a normal state.
↵¶ Bypass protocol was defined as presentation to an ED in the Health Sciences North catchment area (Manitoulin, Espanola, Elliot Lake) or bypass of those EDs by emergency medical services, with patients being brought directly to Health Sciences North.
↵** For in-house strokes, time to imaging and time to assessment are from onset of the stroke.
↵†† Time from onset to presentation was significantly greater for patients with stroke on awakening than for those with sudden-onset stroke (p < 0.01 by 2-tailed t test).