Riks-Stroke och hur fallgropar vid tolkning av resultaten undviks : [Riks-Stroke and how to prevent pitfalls interpreting the results]

• Riks-Stroke, the Swedish quality register for stroke care, has been in service for twelve years. The register gives a unique opportunity to compare treatment, care, and rehabilitation of stroke patients. The protocol has now been launched in its eighth version. The most important changes include that the register now also includes cases that are treated as outpatients. Also, a more robust measure of stroke severity, the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) has been included. All quality registers are sensitive for selection bias. Therefore, it is important to aim at as complete case ascertainment as possible, both at baseline and at the 3-month follow-up. To analyze the comparability of quality parameters between different time points, or between different hospitals, we suggest the use of certain “base factors”, for example age, stroke severity, and number of patients included at baseline and at follow-up.From 2007, with a more robust measure of stroke severity, we are offered an instrument that facilitates comparisons. By registering outpatients, selection bias from this cause is avoided. We will also learn if outpatients have a worse long time outcome. A possible future direction is that the quality of medical follow-up is evaluated within the frames of Riks-Stroke, for example life style factors and treatment of hypertension.

Keyword

Activities of Daily Living

Aged

Follow-Up Studies

Humans

Quality Assurance; Health Care

Registries

Severity of Illness Index

Stroke/diagnosis/mortality/rehabilitation

Sweden/epidemiology

MEDICINE

MEDICIN

Medicine

Medicin

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

art (subject category)