Abstract Text

Background: Among the proven treatment strategies for stroke unit care has the maximum popular impact. It is unclear whether stroke unit care is beneficial in remote hospitals in low and middle income countries (LMIC). Hence we developed this study “The Effectiveness of Support and Training for Setting up Organised Stroke Care Pathways in Improving the Clinical Outcome Following a Stroke -OSCAIL” in India.  

Objective: 1. To determine the effectiveness of support and training provided to stroke teams within hospital to implement stroke care pathways.
2.      To increase the proportion of patients receiving 3 or more key stroke care interventions (KSI) by ~10%.

Methods: This study is being undertaken in four LMICs with two centres each. Two centres in India will be participating in this study. After obtaining informed consent 280 patients will be recruited. The stroke unit staff will be provided:
-          support to set up specialist multidisciplinary stoke teams
-          training
-          checklist and standing order templates
All data will be managed centrally at PHRI, McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences, Canada.
Results: We will compare the provision of stroke care and outcome of stroke between two phases of the study, between study sites in each country as well as between each country to demonstrate the feasibility of this intervention at national and international levels. Data collection will start in two centres in India soon.
Conclusions: If proven beneficial such OSC can be implemented across hospitals in LMICs to improve delivery of stroke care.

The Effectiveness of Support and Training for Setting up Organized Stroke Care Pathways in Improving the Clinical Outcome Following a Stroke (OSCAIL)