Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://ahro.austin.org.au/austinjspui/handle/1/17484
Title: Stroke care in Africa: A systematic review of the literature.
Austin Authors: Urimubenshi, Gerard;Cadilhac, Dominique A;Kagwiza, Jeanne N;Wu, Olivia;Langhorne, Peter
Affiliation: Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
Stroke and Ageing Research, Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, Monash University, Melbourne, Clayton, Australia
Institute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda.
Stroke Division, The Florey Institute Neuroscience and Mental Health, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia
University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Issue Date: 1-Jan-2018
Date: 2018
Publication information: International Journal of Stroke 2018; online first: 1 January
Abstract: Background Appropriate systems of stroke care are important to manage the increasing death and disability associated with stroke in Africa. Information on existing stroke services in African countries is limited. Aim To describe the status of stroke care in Africa. Summary of review We undertook a systematic search of the published literature to identify recent (1 January 2006-20 June 2017) publications that described stroke care in any African country. Our initial search yielded 838 potential papers, of which 38 publications were eligible representing 14/54 African countries. Across the publications included for our review, the proportion of stroke patients reported to arrive at hospital within 3 h from stroke onset varied between 10% and 43%. The median time interval between stroke onset and hospital admission was 31 h. Poor awareness of stroke signs and symptoms, shortages of medical transportation, health care personnel, and stroke units, and the high cost of brain imaging, thrombolysis, and outpatient physiotherapy rehabilitation services were reported as major barriers to providing best-practice stroke care in Africa. Conclusions This review provides an overview of stroke care in Africa, and highlights the paucity of available data. Stroke care in Africa usually fell below the recommended standards with variations across countries and settings. Combined efforts from policy makers and health care professionals in Africa are needed to improve, and ensure access, to organized stroke care in as many settings as possible. Mechanisms to routinely monitor usual care (i.e., registries or audits) are also needed to inform policy and practice.
URI: https://ahro.austin.org.au/austinjspui/handle/1/17484
DOI: 10.1177/1747493018772747
ORCID: 0000-0002-0319-2912
0000-0001-8162-682X
Journal: International Journal of Stroke
PubMed URL: 29664359
Type: Journal Article
Subjects: Africa
Stroke
awareness
health care
rehabilitation
secondary prevention
Stroke unit
Appears in Collections:Journal articles

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