Support by telestroke networks is associated with increased intravenous thrombolysis and reduced hospital transfers: A german claims data analysis

Table 2 Comparison of stroke cases in hospitals with or without support by a telestroke network between 2018 and 2021

	Model 1			Model 2
	(1) (n = 346)	(2) (n = 90)	*p-value*	(3) (n = 142)	(4) (n = 52)	*p-value*
Age [in years], median (IQR)	75 (62–82)	79 (74–84)	0.001	77 (61–83)	79 (72–85)	0.093
Length of stay [in days], median (IQR)	5 (3–7)	6 (2–14)	0.249	5 (3–6)	6 (1–13)	0.878
DRG weight, median (IQR)	0.94 (0.74–1.19)	0.77 (0.34–1.18)	0.021	0.93 (0.73–1.14)	0.77 (0.32–1.08)	0.021
Ventilation hours [in hours], median (IQR)	0	0	0.836	0	0	0.808
PCCL, median (IQR)	0 (0–1)	0 (0–1)	0.596	0 (0–2)	0 (0–1)	0.697
OPS 8-98b^a (%)	52.5	2.2	< 0.001	53.5	0.03	< 0.001
OPS in total^a (%)	73.6	2.2	< 0.001	57.0	0.03	< 0.001
Death^a (%)	3.3	3.3	0.941	3.5	15.4	0.004
Transfer to another hospital^a (%)	5.9	28.9	< 0.001	5.6	30.1	< 0.001
Discharge to a rehabilitation facility^a (%)	4.5	3.3	0.671	2.1	1.9	0.935
Discharge to a nursing facility^a (%)	2.7	7.8	0.020	2.8	0	0.223

Continuous data are presented as median (interquartile range) and discrete data as proportions. Statistically significant results are shown in bold, p < 0.05 was considered significant. OPS 8-98b includes all cases with documented OPS code 8-98b, OPS in total includes all cases with documented OPS codes 8-980, 8-98f, 8-981, 8-98b. Death, transfer to another hospital, discharge to a rehabilitation facility and discharge to a nursing facility describe reasons for discharge that have been documented for each case
Abbreviations: IQR Interquartile range, OPS Operation and procedure code, PCCL Patient clinical complexity level. Group description: (1) = Hospitals supported by a telestroke network (2) = Hospitals not supported by a telestroke network, (3) = Hospitals supported by a telestroke network in districts without certified SU, (4) = Hospitals without support by a telestroke network in districts without SU

ISSN: 2191-1991