%0 Journal Article
%T Trends in Prehospital Visits as a Cause of Delayed Admission in Korean Stroke Patients over a 10-Year Period: A National Health Insurance Claims Data Study.
%A Shin J
%A Kim H
%A Jeong HJ
%A Lee J
%A Moon J
%A Ko KP
%A Kim Y
%J Rev Cardiovasc Med
%V 24
%N 3
%D 2023 Mar
%M 39077504
%F 4.43
%R 10.31083/j.rcm2403083
%X <B>UNASSIGNED: </B>A prehospital delay from symptom onset to hospital arrival resulted in stroke-related complications or in-hospital deaths in acute stroke patients. We aimed to investigate trends in prehospital visits as a cause of prehospital delay using data from the Korean Health Insurance Service.<BR><B>UNASSIGNED: </B>This nationwide, population-based, retrospective cohort study included 524,524 newly-diagnosed stroke patients admitted via the emergency departments of secondary and tertiary hospitals. We obtained the prehospital visits rate from 2010 to 2019 and identified the related characteristics.<BR><B>UNASSIGNED: </B>Prehospital visits were observed in 111,465 patients (21.3%). The prehospital visits rate decreased from 25.1% in 2010 to 17.8% in 2019, but the number of patients increased from 11,255 cases in 2010 to 11,747 cases in 2019. Fortunately, the rate of delayed admission for more than one day decreased from 26.7% to 21.3%. However, 10.4% of patients were diagnosed more than two days later. Young, females, or patients with higher income status and living in low urbanization areas exhibited a higher rate of prehospital visits.<BR><B>UNASSIGNED: </B>Prehospital visits in Korean stroke patients decreased from 25.1% in 2010 to 17.8% in 2019. However, more than 10,000 patients still visited other medical institutions before admission to treatment.