Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 19, 2026

A Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion Technique for Inducing Post-stroke Depression in Rats
Published on: May 22, 2019
Future costs of stroke in the Netherlands: the impact of stroke services
Jeroen N Struijs1, Marianne L L van Genugten, Silvia M A A Evers
1Centre for Prevention and Health Services Research, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands. jeroen.struijs@rivm.nl
Objectives:
In the next decades, the number of stroke patients is expected to increase. Furthermore, organizational changes, such as stroke services, are expected to be implemented on a large scale. The purpose of this study is to estimate the future healthcare costs by taking into account the expected increase of stroke patients and a nationwide implementation of stroke services.
Methods:
By means of a dynamic multistate life table, the total number of stroke patients can be projected. The model calculates the annual number of patients by age and gender. The total healthcare costs are calculated by multiplying the average healthcare costs specified by age, gender, and healthcare sector with the total number of stroke patients specified by age and gender.
Results:
In the year 2000, the healthcare costs for stroke amounted to euro 1.62 billion. This amount is approximately 4.4 percent of the total national healthcare budget. Projections of the total costs of stroke based on current practice result in an increase of 28 percent (euro 2.08 billion) in the year 2020. A nationwide implementation of stroke services in 2020 would result in a substantial reduction of the costs of stroke (euro 1.81 billion: 13 percent cost reduction) compared with the regular care scenario.
Conclusions:
A nationwide implementation of stroke services is a strong policy tool for cost containment of health care in an aging population like that in the Netherlands. Policy makers should optimize the organization of stroke care.
Related Concept Videos
Atherosclerosis IV: Nursing Management
Stroke: Introduction and Types
Hemorrhagic Stroke l: Introduction
Ischemic Stroke l: Introduction
Cardiac Output II: Effect of Stroke Volume on Cardiac Output
Preload
Preload refers to the initial elongation of the cardiac myocytes before contraction and is related to the volume of blood filling the heart at the end of diastole, or end-diastolic volume. The...
Regulation of Stroke Volume
Preload refers to the degree of stretch on the heart before it contracts. It's analogous to the stretching of a rubber band; the more it's stretched, the more forcefully it snaps back. This concept is encapsulated in the Frank-Starling law of the...