title: The evaluation of the stroke unit in Croatia at the University Hospital Sestre milosrdnice, Zagreb: 1995-2006 experience.
abstract: This study evaluate the effects of the Stroke Unit (SU) in Croatia by comparing the in-hospital case fatality rate in the period before (1995-2000) and after (2001-2006) the implementation of SU and to compare the prevalence of risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus (DM), atrial fibrillation (AF) and ischemic heart disease (IHD) among the patients who died. The study was conducted in twelve-year period during which 10,901 stroke patients were admitted to hospital and 1818 of them died. The endpoints were in-hospital case fatality rate and prevalence of risk factors among the patients who died. Before the SU period the case fatality rate was 20.1%, whereas afterwards it decreased significantly to 12.8% (p < 0.001). The relative risk (RR) was 1.57, while the estimate of the odds ratio (OR) showed a 71% increase in chances of death in the pre-SU period. The prevalence of DM, IHD and AF increased significantly, while hypertension was the only risk factor which significantly decreased (p < 0.001). The results showed that the implementation of SU care is associated with a significant reduction of in-hospital case fatality rate of acute stroke patients which strongly suggests that development of the SU network in Croatia should be given priority in the health management.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Hospital Sestre milosrdnice, Zagreb, Croatia. visnjasupanc@inet.hr
authors.forename: Visnja
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Supanc
authors.forename: Vesna
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vargek-Solter
authors.forename: Vanja
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Basić-Kes
authors.forename: Tomislav
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Breitenfeld
authors.forename: Senad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ramić
authors.forename: Iris
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zavoreo
authors.forename: Kresimir
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jergović
authors.forename: Mia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Setić
authors.forename: Zrinka
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Biloglav
authors.forename: Vida
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Demarin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017523:Croatia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006757:Hospital Units; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012306:Risk; D020521:Stroke / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*