RT journal article
T1 Express improvement of acute stroke care accessibility in large regions using a centralized telestroke network
A1 Barragán-Prieto, Ana
A1 Pérez-Sánchez, Soledad
A1 Moniche, Francisco
A1 Valverde Moyano, Roberto
A1 Delgado, Fernando
A1 Martínez-Sánchez, Patricia
A1 Moya Molina, Miguel Ángel
A1 Oropesa, Juan M.
A1 Mínguez-Castellanos, Adolfo
A1 Villegas, Inmaculada
A1 Álvarez Soria, María José
A1 Tamayo Toledo, José Antonio
A1 Cruz Cosme, Carlos de la
A1 Canto Neguillo, Rafael
A1 Herrerías Esteban, Juan Manuel
A1 Montero Cobos, Daniel José
A1 Moreno Muñoz, José Antonio
A1 González, Alejandro
A1 Montaner, Joan
A2 Medicina
K1 Stroke
K1 telestroke
K1 network
AB Introduction: Acute ischemic stroke therapy has improved in recent decades, decreasing the rates of disability and death among stroke patients. Unfortunately, all health care systems have geographical disparities in infrastructure for stroke patients. A centralized telestroke network might be a low-cost strategy to reduce differences in terms of geographical barriers, equitable access, and quality monitoring across different hospitals. Aims: We aimed to quantify changes in stroke patients' geographic access to specialized evaluation by neurologists and to intravenous acute stroke reperfusion treatments following the rapid implementation of a centralized telestroke network in the large region of Andalusia (8.5 million inhabitants). Methods: We conducted an observational study using spatial and analytical methods to examine how a centralized telestroke network influences the quality and accessibility of stroke care for a large region. Results: In the pre-implementation period, 5,005,477 (59.72% of the Andalusian population) had access to specialized stroke care in less than 30 min. After the 5-month process of implementing the telestroke network, 7,832,988 (93.5%) inhabitants had an access time of less than 30 min, bridging the gap in acute stroke care in rural hospitals. Conclusions: A centralized telestroke network may be an efficient tool to reduce the differences in stroke care access and quality monitoring across different hospitals, especially in large regions with low population density.
PB SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD
SN 2396-9873
YR 2022
FD 2022-05
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/27233
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/27233
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 13-nov-2026