Facilitators of and barriers to emergency medical service use by acute ischemic stroke patients: A retrospective survey

摘要

Objective: The objective of the study was to identify facilitators and barriers to emergency medical service use among acute ischemic stroke patients in Korea.Methods: This paper presents a secondary analysis of a retrospective survey that collected data from questionnaires and medical records.Among 233 acute ischemic stroke patients enrolled in a large-scale study,160 patients who had arrived at a hospital within 72 h after symptom onset were included in the data analysis.Results: Users of emergency medical services needed a shorter time than non-users to arrive at hospital (140 min vs.625 min.,p =0.001) and were more likely to arrive at hospital within 3 h of symptom onset (51.9% vs.31.5%,p =0.013).For those who first contacted emergency medical service,the facilitators of emergency medical service use were the presence of hemiparesis (p =0.003),bilateral paralysis (p =0.040),and loss of balance (p =0.021).The predominant barrier was the failure to recognize the urgency of symptoms (p 0.006).Conclusions: The use of emergency medical services reduced prehospital delay and increased the likelihood of patient arrival at hospital within 3 h.Given that experiencing typical stroke symptoms was a facilitator of emergency medical service use yet failure to recognize the urgency of symptoms was a barrier,public awareness should be raised as regards stroke symptoms and the benefits of using emergency medical services.