Determination of frequency of stroke patients with delayed hospital presentation and causative factors

Background: clinical and experimental evidence suggests that the interval between stroke onset and the commencement of either thrombolytic or neuroprotective therapy is likely to be a major determinant of outcome. most potential therapy for stroke need to be employed within a few hours of stroke onset and several authors have suggested that delay in arriving at hospital is a major factor limiting the use of new stroke therapies. aim: to determine frequency of factors that influence delay in hospital arrival of patients with stroke. study design: cross sectional survey settings: department of neurology services hospital,lahore methods: a total of 110 patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria from medical emergency department of services hospital lahore were enrolled after informed consent from the patient or his/her attendant. demographics like name,age,gender and address were noted. patient or his/attendant was asked about level of education of patient,mode of transport,first consultation with gp,low threat perception about the stroke symptoms and awareness of the importance of seeking immediate medical help. results: the results of the study reveal majority of the cases between 51-70 years of age i.e.,43(39.09%),mean and sd was 56.76±4.29years,57(51.82%) were male and 18(48.53%) females,frequency of delay in hospital arrival of patients with acute stroke was 81(73.64%),frequency of factors that influence delay in hospital arrival of patients with acute stroke reveals 27(33.33%) had illiteracy,19(23.46%) used public/private transport,57(70.37%) had first consultation with gp,21(25.93%) had low threat perception about the stroke symptoms while 24(29.63%) had unawareness of the importance of seeking immediate medical help. conclusion: we concluded that still a significant number of patients with acute stroke arrive late in hospital and majority of them come with factors that influence in delay like illiteracy,using public/private transport,first consultation with gp,low threat perception about the stroke symptoms and awareness of the importance of seeking immediate medical help.