Browsing by Author "Pan, Wenqin"

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    Medication coaching program for patients with minor stroke or TIA: a pilot study.
    (BMC Public Health, 2012-07-25) Sides, Elizabeth G; Zimmer, Louise O; Wilson, Leslie; Pan, Wenqin; Olson, Daiwai M; Peterson, Eric D; Bushnell, Cheryl
    BACKGROUND: Patients who are hospitalized with a first or recurrent stroke often are discharged with new medications or adjustment to the doses of pre-admission medications, which can be confusing and pose safety issues if misunderstood. The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility of medication coaching via telephone after discharge in patients with stroke. METHODS: Two-arm pilot study of a medication coaching program with 30 patients (20 intervention, 10 control). Consecutive patients admitted with stroke or TIA with at least 2 medications changed between admission and discharge were included. The medication coach contacted intervention arm patients post-discharge via phone call to discuss risk factors, review medications and triage patients' questions to a stroke nurse and/or pharmacist. Intervention and control participants were contacted at 3 months for outcomes. The main outcomes were feasibility (appropriateness of script, ability to reach participants, and provide requested information) and participant evaluation of medication coaching. RESULTS: The median lengths of the coaching and follow-up calls with requested answers to these questions were 27 minutes and 12 minutes, respectively, and participant evaluations of the coaching were positive. The intervention participants were more likely to have seen their primary care provider than were control participants by 3 months post discharge. CONCLUSIONS: This medication coaching study executed early after discharge demonstrated feasibility of coaching and educating stroke patients with a trained coach. Results from our small pilot showed a possible trend towards improved appointment-keeping with primary care providers in those who received coaching.
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    Relationship of national institutes of health stroke scale to 30-day mortality in medicare beneficiaries with acute ischemic stroke.
    (J Am Heart Assoc, 2012-02) Fonarow, Gregg C; Saver, Jeffrey L; Smith, Eric E; Broderick, Joseph P; Kleindorfer, Dawn O; Sacco, Ralph L; Pan, Wenqin; Olson, Daiwai M; Hernandez, Adrian F; Peterson, Eric D; Schwamm, Lee H
    BACKGROUND: The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), a well-validated tool for assessing initial stroke severity, has previously been shown to be associated with mortality in acute ischemic stroke. However, the relationship, optimal categorization, and risk discrimination with the NIHSS for predicting 30-day mortality among Medicare beneficiaries with acute ischemic stroke has not been well studied. METHODS AND RESULTS: We analyzed data from 33102 fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries treated at 404 Get With The Guidelines-Stroke hospitals between April 2003 and December 2006 with NIHSS documented. The 30-day mortality rate by NIHSS as a continuous variable and by risk-tree determined or prespecified categories were analyzed, with discrimination of risk quantified by the c-statistic. In this cohort, mean age was 79.0 years and 58% were female. The median NIHSS score was 5 (25th to 75th percentile 2 to 12). There were 4496 deaths in the first 30 days (13.6%). There was a strong graded relation between increasing NIHSS score and higher 30-day mortality. The 30-day mortality rates for acute ischemic stroke by NIHSS categories were as follows: 0 to 7, 4.2%; 8 to 13, 13.9%; 14 to 21, 31.6%; 22 to 42, 53.5%. A model with NIHSS alone provided excellent discrimination whether included as a continuous variable (c-statistic 0.82 [0.81 to 0.83]), 4 categories (c-statistic 0.80 [0.79 to 0.80]), or 3 categories (c-statistic 0.79 [0.78 to 0.79]). CONCLUSIONS: The NIHSS provides substantial prognostic information regarding 30-day mortality risk in Medicare beneficiaries with acute ischemic stroke. This index of stroke severity is a very strong discriminator of mortality risk, even in the absence of other clinical information, whether used as a continuous or categorical risk determinant. (J Am Heart Assoc. 2012;1:42-50.).
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    The association between socioeconomic status and disability after stroke: findings from the Adherence eValuation After Ischemic stroke Longitudinal (AVAIL) registry.
    (BMC Public Health, 2014-03-26) Bettger, Janet Prvu; Zhao, Xin; Bushnell, Cheryl; Zimmer, Louise; Pan, Wenqin; Williams, Linda S; Peterson, Eric D
    BACKGROUND: Stroke is the leading cause of disability among adults in the United States. The association of patients' pre-event socioeconomic status (SES) with post-stroke disability is not well understood. We examined the association of three indicators of SES--educational attainment, working status, and perceived adequacy of household income--with disability 3-months following an acute ischemic stroke. METHODS: We conducted retrospective analyses of a prospective cohort of 1965 ischemic stroke patients who survived to 3 months in the Adherence eValuation After Ischemic stroke--Longitudinal (AVAIL) study. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine the relationship of level of education, pre-stroke work status, and perceived adequacy of household income with disability (defined as a modified Rankin Scale of 3-5 indicating activities of daily living limitations or constant care required). RESULTS: Overall, 58% of AVAIL stroke patients had a high school or less education, 61% were not working, and 27% perceived their household income as inadequate prior to their stroke. Thirty five percent of patients were disabled at 3-months. After adjusting for demographic and clinical factors, stroke survivors who were unemployed or homemakers, disabled and not-working, retired, less educated, or reported to have inadequate income prior to their stroke had a significantly higher odds of post-stroke disability. CONCLUSIONS: In this cohort of stroke survivors, socioeconomic status was associated with disability following acute ischemic stroke. The results may have implications for public health and health service interventions targeting stroke survivors at risk of poor outcomes.