Language disparity is not a significant barrier for time-sensitive care of acute ischemic stroke

BMC Neurology

Table 2 Stroke severity and quality benchmarks of stroke care among the three language groups

	English	Spanish	Other languages	Spanish vs. English	Other languages vs. English
	n = 646	n = 163	n = 119	Difference or OR (95% CI)	Difference or OR (95% CI)
Initial NIHSS scores, mean (SD)	9 (8)	8 (8)	10 (9)	−1.0 (− 2.7 - 0.7)	1.3 (− 0.6 - 3.3)
DTI time (mins)	58 (100)	65 (91)	56 (93)	7.4 (− 12.6 - 27.5)	−2.0 (− 24.8 - 20.8)
IV tPA received, n (%)	157 (24.3%)	36 (22.1%)	25 (21.0%)	0.9 (0.6–1.3)	0.8 (0.5–1.3)
LOS, days, mean (SD)	5 (6)	6 (7)	6 (6)	0.8 (− 0.4 - 2.0)	0.5 (− 0.9 - 1.9)
mRS (0–2) at discharge, n (%)	247 (40.0%)	61 (38.6%)	31 (26.3%)	1.0 (0.7–1.4)	0.5 (0.4–0.8) ^*
Death at hospital, n (%)	50 (7.7%)	5 (3.1%)	7 (5.9%)	0.4 (0.1–1.0) ^*	0.7 (0.3–1.7)

Abbreviations: CI confidence interval, DTI door-to-imaging, IQR interquartile range, LOS length of stay, mRS modified Rankin Scale, NIHSS National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale, SD standard deviation, tPA tissue plasminogen activator
Differences in means between groups were calculated by the Tukey’s Studentized Range Test
Odds ratios in dichotomous variables were tested in the unadjusted logistic regression models
*P < 0.05

ISSN: 1471-2377