Characteristics of delayed admission to stroke unit

Early admission to stroke unit (SU) and factors that may cause admission delay represent relevant issues to obtain an optimal management of acute stroke. This study was aimed at recording timing from clinical onset to admission to our SU and to identify the reasons for delay. We prospectively examined acute stroke patients consecutively admitted to the Perugia SU. Baseline characteristics of stroke patients, stroke type and etiology, time from symptom onset to arrival in the SU were obtained from the Hospital-Based Perugia Stroke Registry. 60.8% of 2,213 consecutive stroke patients admitted to the SU arrived within 6 hrs and 39.2% after 6 hrs. Underestimation of symptoms was the cause of delay in 48.7% of cases. Younger age, especially for females, ischemic stroke, mild and/or unspecific symptoms and the underestimation of symptoms seem to be the main reasons for delayed arrival in the SU. To increase the proportion of stroke patients arriving in the SU within 3 hr of symptom onset, it is necessary to improve public and general practitioner awareness of stroke through educational programs.