Factors associated with decision time to seek care in the face of ischemic stroke.
Ludimila Santos Muniz, Mariana de Almeida Moraes, Rilary Silva Sales and 7 others
PMID 37624382WHAT IT FOUND
Stroke survivors took 18 minutes to decide to seek care.
Waiting for symptoms to improve, being alone, and having hypertension were linked to longer delays. These factors help target education for patients and families.
Key findings
01The median decision time to seek care was 18 minutes.
02Waiting for symptoms to improve, being alone, and having hypertension were associated with longer decision times in the final model.
03People who lived alone took longer to decide to seek care.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was conducted at a single public hospital in Brazil, so results may not apply to other settings. Decision time was based on participant recall, which introduces the risk of memory errors. The study measured association, not causation; it cannot prove these factors caused the delay.
Declared interests
The paper does not report specific conflicts of interest or funding sources in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that 18 minutes is the total pre-hospital delay. This figure represents only the time to make the decision to seek care; it excludes the time taken to transport the patient to the hospital.