title: Antihypertensive treatment prolongs tissue plasminogen activator door-to-treatment time: secondary analysis of the INSTINCT trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Identifying modifiable tissue plasminogen activator treatment delays may improve stroke outcomes. We hypothesized that prethrombolytic antihypertensive treatment (AHT) may prolong door-to-treatment time (DTT).
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed an analysis of consecutive tissue plasminogen activator-treated patients at 24 randomly selected community hospitals in the Increasing Stroke Treatment through Interventional Behavior Change Tactics (INSTINCT) trial between 2007 and 2010. DTT among stroke patients who received prethrombolytic AHT were compared with those who did not receive prethrombolytic AHT. We then calculated a propensity score for the probability of receiving prethrombolytic AHT using logistic regression with demographics, stroke risk factors, home medications, stroke severity (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale), onset-to-door time, admission glucose, pretreatment blood pressure, emergency medical service transport, and location at time of stroke as independent variables. A paired t test was performed to compare the DTT between the propensity-matched groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 534 tissue plasminogen activator-treated stroke patients analyzed, 95 received prethrombolytic AHT. In the unmatched cohort, patients who received prethrombolytic AHT had a longer DTT (mean increase, 9 minutes; 95% confidence interval, 2-16 minutes) than patients who did not. After propensity matching, patients who received prethrombolytic AHT had a longer DTT (mean increase, 10.4 minutes; 95% confidence interval, 1.9-18.8) than patients who did not receive prethrombolytic AHT.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Prethrombolytic AHT is associated with modest delays in DTT. This represents a potential target for quality-improvement initiatives. Further research evaluating optimum prethrombolytic hypertension management is warranted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatics, University of Michigan, School of Public Health, 1500 East Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5855, USA. lerusche@umich.edu
authors.forename: Lesli E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Skolarus
authors.forename: Phillip A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: James F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Burke
authors.forename: Eric E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Adelman
authors.forename: Shirley M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Frederiksen
authors.forename: Allison M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Kade
authors.forename: Jack D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Kalbfleisch
authors.forename: Andria L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Ford
authors.forename: William J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Meurer
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D005343:Fibrinolytic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D006764:Hospitals, Community / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000592:standards; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020521:Stroke / Q000188:drug therapy*; D061665:Time-to-Treatment / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents; D005343:Fibrinolytic Agents; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator