untitled

The Stroke PROTECT program was designed to integrate proven secondary stroke prevention measures into the standard stroke care provided during hospitalization. Its ultimate objective is to facilitate the in-hospital initiation and subsequent maintenance of these measures in a simple, expedient and widely applicable manner, resulting in improved long-term treatment rates and clinical outcomes.

All hospital patients admitted with a diagnosis of ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack participate in the Stroke PROTECT program but to varying degrees depending on their stroke subtype. The program algorithm calls for the initiation of PROTECT program goals prior to discharge.

The eight program goals are:

Of significant note, is the fact that only existing resources and medical personnel (neurologists, primary care physicians and nurses) have been used to implement the program and as such no additional expenses are incurred by the hospital administration.

Statistical Analysis
Results obtained from prospective implementation of the program will be compared to results obtained from a comparable group of patients admitted to UCLA Medical Center during a 12-month period immediately prior to program initiation, as well as to a comparable group of patients admitted over 12-month periods in 1998 and 2001. Group differences in dichotomized endpoints will be analyzed employing the Fisher exact test. Group differences in continuous endpoints will be analyzed with the student's test. Differences between groups will be analyzed using ANOVA, adjusting for any differences in baseline characteristics as necessary.