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Observational Study
. 2019 Nov 19;19(1):293.
doi: 10.1186/s12883-019-1518-9.

Neurology practice and stroke services across East China: a multi-site, county-level hospital-based survey

Jun-Fang Zhang  1 , Meng-Yao Qiu  1 , Yu-Lei Zhang  1 , Xi-Xi Wang  1 , Guo-Ping Wang  2 , Yu Geng  3 , Ke-Zhong Zhang  4 , Kan Fang  1 , Yun-Cheng Wu  5
Affiliations
Observational Study

Neurology practice and stroke services across East China: a multi-site, county-level hospital-based survey

Jun-Fang Zhang et al. BMC Neurol. .

Abstract

Background: Neurological disorders are an economic and public health burden which requires efficient and adequate medical resources. Currently, little is known about the status of the quality of neurological care services available in China. As neurological primary care is mostly provided at the county hospital level, investigation of this geographical level is required. The aim of this study is to evaluate currently available neurology care services in Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomerations in east China.

Methods: A multi-site, county-level hospital-based observational survey was conducted in east China from January 2017 to December 2017. A questionnaire was made to assess hospital and the departmental patient care capabilities, human resources and technical capacity in neurology departments.

Results: Of 228 hospitals across the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomerations, 217 documents were returned. Of these, 22 were excluded due to invalid hospital information or duplicate submission. Overall, most hospitals have neurology departments (162, 83.1%) while less than half of the hospitals have a stroke center (80, 41.0%) and neurology emergency department (46, 23.6%). Among 162 hospitals with neurology department, 5 were excluded due to inadequate sharing, leaving 157 hospitals for analysis. About 84.1% of these neurology departments can administer intravenous thrombolysis while about one third of them has the ability to perform arterial thrombectomy (36.9%). In addition, 46.2% of hospitals can carry out computed tomography angiography (CTA) in emergency room. Tertiary care hospitals are much more equipped with modern medical resources compared to the secondary hospitals. In four administrative regions, the neurology services are better in more economically advanced regions.

Conclusions: Neurological care services need to be enhanced at the county-level hospitals to improve health care delivery.

Keywords: Arterial thrombectomy; Hospital services; Intravenous thrombolysis; Neurology; Stroke center; Survey.

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Conflict of interest statement

Yun-Cheng Wu is an Editorial Board Member of BMC Neurology. Other authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The geographical locations of participating hospitals in Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomerations of China
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Flow of hospitals through survey
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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