1 / 5

Age Disparities in Postdischarge Stroke Care: A Study of Veterans with Ischemic Stroke

This study examines whether age disparities exist in postdischarge quality indicators (QIs) for veterans with ischemic stroke receiving care at Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers (VAMCs). The results showed that overall postdischarge quality did not vary consistently by age, but a few differences were observed, highlighting the need for awareness of possible age disparities in stroke management.

cedson
Download Presentation

Age Disparities in Postdischarge Stroke Care: A Study of Veterans with Ischemic Stroke

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Postdischarge quality of care: Do age disparities exist amongDepartment of Veterans Affairs ischemic stroke patients? Neale R. Chumbler, PhD; Huanguang Jia; Michael S. Phipps, MD; Xinli Li, PhD; Diana Ordin, MD, MPH; Linda S. Williams, MD; Laura J. Myers, PhD; Dawn M. Bravata, MD

  2. Aim • Examine whether age disparities exist in postdischarge quality indicators (QIs) for veterans with ischemic stroke who receive care at Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers (VAMCs). • Relevance • Some previous studies have found age differences in care processes, but whether these same differences exist in VAMC stroke care is unclear.

  3. Method • Retrospective cohort of 3,196 veterans. • Diagnosed with ischemic stroke. • Received acute and postdischarge stroke care at 127 VAMCs in fiscal year 2007. • Assessed postdischarge stroke QIs in outpatient setting over 6 mo: • Blood pressure. • Serum international normalized ratio (INR). • Cholesterol levels. • Serum glycosylated hemoglobin. • Depression treatment.

  4. Results • After adjustment for sociodemographic, clinical, and facility-level characteristics, only postdischarge INR control differed by age. • Substantially higher for veterans 85 and older. • Neither unadjusted nor adjusted results demon-strated consistent decrement in quality with increasing age. • Rather, some care processes provided more often to older patients (cholesterol goal achievement) and others provided more often to younger patients (depression treatment and blood pressure goal achievement).

  5. Conclusion • Overall postdischarge quality for ischemic stroke in VAMCs did not vary consistently by age. • However, the few differences that emerged should encourage awareness of possible age disparities. • Stroke management should be guided by best clinical evidence and guidelines, irrespective of age.

More Related