Browsing by Author "Cox, Margueritte"

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    Development and initial testing of the stroke rapid-treatment readiness tool.
    (J Neurosci Nurs, 2014-10) Olson, DaiWai M; Cox, Margueritte; Constable, Mark; Britz, Gavin W; Lin, Cheryl B; Zimmer, Louise O; Fonarow, Gregg C; Schwamm, Lee H; Peterson, Eric D
    No instruments are currently available to help health systems identify target areas for reducing door-to-needle times for the administration of intravenous tissue plasminogen activator to eligible patients with ischemic stroke. A 67-item Likert-scale survey was administered by telephone to stroke personnel at 252 U.S. hospitals participating in the "Get With The Guidelines-Stroke" quality improvement program. Factor analysis was used to refine the instrument to a four-factor 29-item instrument that can be used by hospitals to assess their readiness to administer intravenous tissue plasminogen activator within 60 minutes of patient hospital arrival.
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    Perception Versus Actual Performance in Timely Tissue Plasminogen Activation Administration in the Management of Acute Ischemic Stroke.
    (J Am Heart Assoc, 2015-07-22) Lin, Cheryl B; Cox, Margueritte; Olson, DaiWai M; Britz, Gavin W; Constable, Mark; Fonarow, Gregg C; Schwamm, Lee; Peterson, Eric D; Shah, Bimal R
    BACKGROUND: Timely thrombolytic therapy can improve stroke outcomes. Nevertheless, the ability of US hospitals to meet guidelines for intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) remains suboptimal. What is unclear is whether hospitals accurately perceive their rate of tPA "door-to-needle" (DTN) time within 60 minutes and how DTN rates compare across different hospitals. METHODS AND RESULTS: DTN performance was defined by the percentage of treated patients who received tPA within 60 minutes of arrival. Telephone surveys were obtained from staff at 141 Get With The Guidelines hospitals, representing top, middle, and low DTN performance. Less than one-third (29.1%) of staff accurately identified their DTN performance. Among middle- and low-performing hospitals (n=92), 56 sites (60.9%) overestimated their performance; 42% of middle performers and 85% of low performers overestimated their performance. Sites that overestimated tended to have lower annual volumes of tPA administration (median 8.4 patients [25th to 75th percentile 5.9 to 11.8] versus 10.2 patients [25th to 75th percentile 8.2 to 17.3], P=0.047), smaller percentages of eligible patients receiving tPA (84.7% versus 89.8%, P=0.008), and smaller percentages of DTN ≤60 minutes among treated patients (10.6% versus 16.6%, P=0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Hospitals often overestimate their ability to deliver timely tPA to treated patients. Our findings indicate the need to routinely provide comparative provider performance rates as a key step to improving the quality of acute stroke care.
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    Quality of Care and Outcomes for Patients With Stroke in the United States Admitted During the International Stroke Conference.
    (Journal of the American Heart Association, 2018-11) Messé, Steven R; Mullen, Michael T; Cox, Margueritte; Fonarow, Gregg C; Smith, Eric E; Saver, Jeffrey L; Reeves, Mathew J; Bhatt, Deepak L; Matsouaka, Roland; Schwamm, Lee H
    Background Patients presenting to hospitals during non-weekday hours experience worse outcomes, often attributed to reduced staffing. The American Heart Association International Stroke Conference ( ISC ) is well attended by stroke clinicians. We sought to determine whether patients with acute ischemic stroke ( AIS ) admitted during the ISC receive less guideline-adherent care and experience worse outcomes. Methods and Results We performed a retrospective cohort study of US hospitals participating in Get With The Guidelines-Stroke and assessed use of intravenous tissue plasminogen activator, other quality measures, and outcomes for patients with AIS admitted during the ISC compared with those admitted the weeks before and after the conference. A total of 69 738 patients with AIS were included: mean age, 72 years; 52% women; 29% nonwhite. There was no difference between the average weekly number of AIS cases admitted during ISC weeks versus non- ISC weeks (1984 versus 1997; P=0.95). Patient and hospital characteristics were similar between ISC and non- ISC time periods. There were no significant differences in 14 quality metrics and 5 clinical outcomes between patients with AIS treated during the ISC versus non- ISC weeks. Patients with AIS who presented within 2 hours of onset had no difference in the likelihood of receiving intravenous tissue plasminogen activator within 3 hours (adjusted odds ratio, 0.89; 95% confidence interval, 0.77-1.03; P=0.13) or the likelihood of receiving intravenous tissue plasminogen activator within 60 minutes of arrival (adjusted odds ratio, 0.92; 95% confidence interval, 0.83-1.02; P=0.13). Conclusions Patients with acute stroke admitted to Get With The Guidelines-Stroke hospitals during ISC received the same quality care and had similar outcomes as patients admitted at other times.
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    Temperature and Precipitation Associate With Ischemic Stroke Outcomes in the United States.
    (Journal of the American Heart Association, 2018-11) Chu, Stacy Y; Cox, Margueritte; Fonarow, Gregg C; Smith, Eric E; Schwamm, Lee; Bhatt, Deepak L; Matsouaka, Roland A; Xian, Ying; Sheth, Kevin N
    Background There is disagreement in the literature about the relationship between strokes and seasonal conditions. We sought to (1) describe seasonal patterns of stroke in the United States, and (2) determine the relationship between weather variables and stroke outcomes. Methods and Results We performed a cross-sectional study using Get With The Guidelines-Stroke data from 896 hospitals across the continental United States. We examined effects of season, climate region, and climate variables on stroke outcomes. We identified 457 638 patients admitted from 2011 to 2015 with ischemic stroke. There was a higher frequency of admissions in winter (116 862 in winter versus 113 689 in spring, 113 569 in summer, and 113 518 in fall; P<0.0001). Winter was associated with higher odds of in-hospital mortality (odds ratio [OR] 1.08 relative to spring, confidence interval [ CI ] 1.04-1.13, P=0.0004) and lower odds of discharge home ( OR 0.92, CI 0.91-0.94, P<0.0001) or independent ambulation at discharge ( OR 0.96, CI 0.94-0.98, P=0.0006). These differences were attenuated after adjusting for climate region and case mix and became inconsistent after controlling for weather variables. Temperature and precipitation were independently associated with outcome after multivariable analysis, with increases in temperature and precipitation associated with lower odds of mortality ( OR 0.95, CI 0.93-0.97, P<0.0001 and OR 0.95, CI 0.90-1.00, P=0.035, respectively). Conclusions Admissions for ischemic stroke were more frequent in the winter. Warmer and wetter weather conditions were independently associated with better outcomes. Further studies should aim to identify sensitive populations and inform public health measures aimed at resource allocation, readiness, and adaptive strategies.
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    Trends in clinical, demographic, and biochemical characteristics of patients with acute myocardial infarction from 2003 to 2008: a report from the american heart association get with the guidelines coronary artery disease program.
    (J Am Heart Assoc, 2012-08) Boyer, Nathan M; Laskey, Warren K; Cox, Margueritte; Hernandez, Adrian F; Peterson, Eric D; Bhatt, Deepak L; Cannon, Christopher P; Fonarow, Gregg C
    BACKGROUND: An analysis of the changes in the clinical and demographic characteristics of patients with acute myocardial infarction could identify successes and failures of risk factor identification and treatment of patients at increased risk for cardiovascular events. METHODS AND RESULTS: We reviewed data collected from 138 122 patients with acute myocardial infarction admitted from 2003 to 2008 to hospitals participating in the American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines Coronary Artery Disease program. Clinical, demographic, and laboratory characteristics were analyzed for each year stratified on the electrocardiogram at presentation. Patients with non-ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction were older, more likely to be women, and more likely to have hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and a history of past cardiovascular disease than were patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction. In the overall patient sample, significant trends were observed of an increase over time in the proportions of non-ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction, patient age of 45 to 65 years, obesity, and female sex. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus decreased over time, whereas the prevalences of hypertension and smoking were substantial and unchanging. The prevalence of "low" high-density lipoprotein increased over time, whereas that of "high" low-density lipoprotein decreased. Stratum-specific univariate analysis revealed quantitative and qualitative differences between strata in time trends for numerous demographic, clinical, and biochemical measures. On multivariable analysis, there was concordance between strata with regard to the increase in prevalence of patients 45 to 65 years of age, obesity, and "low" high-density lipoprotein and the decrease in prevalence of "high" low-density lipoprotein. However, changes in trends in age distribution, sex ratio, and prevalence of smokers and the magnitude of change in diabetes mellitus prevalence differed between strata. CONCLUSIONS: There were notable differences in risk factors and patient characteristics among patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction and those with non-ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction. The increasing prevalence of dysmetabolic markers in a growing proportion of patients with acute myocardial infarction suggests further opportunities for risk factor modification. (J Am Heart Assoc. 2012;1:e001206 doi: 10.1161/JAHA.112.001206.).