News - Hypertension Week of October 19, 2003/ Vol. 2 No. 42

Educational Campaign Increases Use of Emergency Stroke Drug

An educational campaign aimed at the public and health professionals nearly quintupled the use of an emergency clot-busting drug in stroke patients in three Texas counties, according to a study reported in the October 13 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Only a small percentage of stroke victims who could be saved from death or disability by the quick delivery of emergency clot-busting therapy known as tPA (tissue plasminogen activator) actually receive it in time.

But University of Michigan and University of Texas at Houston researchers found that their campaign allowed 69 percent of eligible patients to receive tPA within the requisite time-period following a stroke, up from 14 percent before the campaign began.

"The campaign had high-impact results in a short time, which clearly shows that we can make dramatic improvements in acute stroke treatment through education," said study author Dr. Lewis Morgenstern, director of the University of Michigan stroke program.

The public education campaign emphasized the importance of recognizing stroke symptoms, calling 911 immediately to seek medical attention, asking for acute stroke therapies in the emergency room and understanding the tremendous benefit of rapid treatment.

For health professionals, the campaign included the development of protocols for the treatment of stroke that could guide emergency department doctors and emergency medical services staff. Continuing medical education sessions, physician newsletters and newspaper articles highlighting the success of treatment in local patients were also used.

"Patients came in having seen or heard the public service announcements or news stories and pushed the doctors to consider tPA," Morgenstern said. "Then, seeing the drug's effects, doctors who may have been hesitant to use it became advocates themselves. The community education was the impetus to get the ball rolling."

Morgenstern said the study shows that acute stroke care can be improved by tackling the problem from many angles, and using a comprehensive, analytic approach to designing the educational program. "Our results are likely to apply to acute stroke therapy in general, and provide a framework for future interventions of any kind," he added.

Other sources: University of Michigan, Archives of Internal Medicine, 2003;163:2198-2202