GENDER DIFFERENCES IN DOOR-TO-NEEDLE TIMES FOR ACUTE ISCHEMIC STROKE – NEED TO IMPROVE?

Background and purpose: There is little data available but some studies suggested that women have longer door-to-needle time than men in acute ischemic stroke. We aimed to study the door-to-needle times attending to gender, in our hospital. Methodology: Retrospective analysis of patients with acute ischemic stroke who underwent IV rt-PA treatment at a tertiary center between 2015 and 2018. Door-to-needle times were compared between genders, using the t-student test. During the second half of 2018 a strategy was implemented to alert the gender gap in time to the administration of fibrinolytic treatment and the impact of this measure was evaluated by comparing the previous door-to-needle times using the Two-Way ANOVA test. Results: There were no differences in door-to-needle time (women: 50.26 ± 31.07 min versus man: 45.15 ± 24.31 min). In the pre-intervention period, the women had a mean port time of 50.56 ± 29.72min versus 45.17 ± 24.12min in man (p = 0.098). This trend continued after the implementation of an awareness strategy (women: 48.21 ± 40.01 min versus men: 44.92 ± 23.91 min, p = 0.160), although not statistically significant. The comparison between genders in pre- and post-intervention periods showed no statistically significant differences (mean value of 4,338, p = 0,410 and mean value of 1,297, p = 0,805). Conclusions: Women with stroke appear to have a tendency for slightly longer door-to-needle time, but without clear statistical significance. The awareness strategy implemented did not change the times. Further studies are needed to clarify this trend. Disclosure: n/a