Regional differences in the use of out-patient services by stroke patients after hospitalisation

Abstract

Background: To improve the quality of life in stroke patients, outreach care programmes are developed and assessed for effectiveness. The generalisability of the trials' results is uncertain since information on the comparability of the conventional out-patient services is lacking. This study intended to assess the use of 11 types of conventional out-patient services by stroke patients in the United States and a predefined set of Western European countries.

Methods: Review of the literature from 1990 to 2001.

Results: We found 11 studies, which contained data on 1,875 patients of 6 countries. Large differences in the use of out-patient services within and between countries prohibited pooling of the data.

Conclusions: The paucity of data on the use of conventional out-patient services by stroke patients and the regional differences found do not substantiate generalisability of the results from studies on outreach care for stroke patients.