Objective: To investigate the delay in time from stroke onset to arrival at the emergency department (ED) and to evaluate the factors associated with the delay.
Methods: In this prospective study, the factors influencing the delay in time from stroke onset to patients arrival at the ED and ED-CT and access to ED-treatment were explored in 623 patients with acute stroke. The data recorded included patients' knowledge of stroke.
Results: The median time from onset to ED was 5.17 hours. Stepwise regression analysis showed that significant risk factors related to arrival delay included living alone at onset of the illness, no facility of ambulance transportation, presence of brain infarct, mild degree of neurological symptoms, long distance from home to hospital, not seeking seeking any help within the first hour, less attention to the stroke onset (P < 0.05 or P < 0.001). The median time from arrival at the ED to arrival at the CT scan was 10 minutes. 75.8% patients finished CT scan within 30 minutes and 78.2% were treated within one hour.
Conclusions: There is significant time delay from stroke onset to patients arrival at the ED. Further health education is necessary to increase the public awareness of seeking medical help after stroke onset and having ambulance transportation to an acute-care hospital.