StroCare - Optimised Cross-sectoral,Coordinated Treatment of Stroke Patients With Patient-orientated Outcome Measurement (StroCare)

StroCare - Optimised Cross-sectoral,Coordinated Treatment of Stroke Patients With Patient-orientated Outcome Measurement

StroCare - Optimised Cross-sectoral, Coordinated Treatment of Stroke Patients With Patient-orientated Outcome Measurement

Albertinen Krankenhaus gGmbH, Elbe Kliniken Stade-Buxtehude GmbH, Reha Centrum Hamburg GmbH, Klinikum Bad Bramstedt GmbH, MediClin Klinikum Soltau GmbH, VAMED Klinik Geesthacht, VAMED Rehaklinik Damp, BARMER Krankenkasse, Lohmann und Birkner medizinisches ServiceCenter GmbH, Forcare GmbH

The Trial is a multi-centred controlled interventional study with a pre-post design. The primary aim of the study is the evaluation of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the StroCare treatment.

Stroke is the second most common cause of death in Germany and the most common cause for life-long disability in adulthood. After stroke, patients often experience incisive changes in their health, daily routine and quality of life. The developed model of care (StroCare treatment) forms a cross--sectoral, structured and coordinated treatment pathway that integrates a patient-centred outcome evaluation. It aims to optimize the transition from acute inpatient treatment after an acute stroke to the ambulant neurological rehabilitation treatment. This is done firstly by creating an electronic portal solution for a safe and coordinated transmission of clinical data between the three participating hospitals and five stroke-specialized ambulant rehabilitation clinics and secondly by introducing a case-manager provided by the participating health insurance agency for patient support and aftercare coordination. The presented study is a multi-centred controlled interventional study with a pre-post design. Stroke patients in both groups are assessed after the index ischemic event and 12 months thereafter. Further sources of information are the medical record, the electronic portal (only intervention group), and routine data provided by the collaborating BARMER health insurance agency (for the Intervention and control group and additionally for a historic control). The main hypotheses are : (1) The StroCare treatment is more effective than the routine aftercare treatment (primary outcome: patient-reported quality of life) and (2) the StroCare treatment reduces costs for care and in the inpatient sector by providing more coordinated and thorough rehabilitation and outpatient aftercare.

Stroke, Patient-reported outcomes (PROs), Cross-sectoral care, Stroke aftercare, Aftercare coordination, Post-rehabilitation support, Evidence based treatment, Patient-centred care, Quality of life, Morbidity, Mortality, Functional status, Feasibility, Acceptance, Process evaluation, Health economics

For a 12-months period patients undergoing aftercare treatment as usual are enrolled as an active control group. Subsequently, the intervention is implemented (StroCare treatment) and enrolment of the intervention group takes place for another 12 months. Patients in both groups are assessed after the index ischemic event and 12 months thereafter. Further sources of information are the medical record, the electronic portal (only intervention group), routine data provided by the collaborating BARMER health insurance agency (for the intervention and control group and additionally for a historic control).

Optimized cross-sectoral, structured and coordinated treatment pathway that integrates a patient-centred outcome evaluation

optimized cross-sectoral, structured and coordinated treatment pathway that integrates a patient-centred outcome evaluation

the optimized treatment pathway includes coordinated transitions between rehabilitation phases and institutes using individual case management and portal solutions

Patient-reported Quality of Life measured with Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System-10 (PROMIS-10); this provides two global scores: Global Physical Health and Global Mental Health with scores ranging from 0-20 each and higher scores indicating better health state.

Patient reported mental health Status measured with the Patient health questionnaire (PHQ-4); the questionnaire provides two sub-scores measuring anxiety and depression with scores ranging from 0-6 each with higher scores indiciating more symptoms of anxiety or depression, respectively

Functional Status measured with the modified Rankin Scale (mRS); the nRS ranges from 0 (no disability) to 6 (death)

Utilisation of health care Services extracted from the medical record and the electronic Portal (only Intervention Group), i.e., number of admissions to hospital, number of outpatient contacts, weekly hours of physiotherapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy

Patient' s waiting time between Treatment phases (Transition) to the ambulant neurological Rehabilitation Treatment)

Success in reahin target values of relevant risk factors (individually defined target values based on available guidelines): blood pressure

Current values Blood Pressure will be extracted from the medical record and the electronic portal and compared to the individually defined target values based on current guidelines and individuall assessement of the overall patient's situation

Success in reahin target values of relevant risk factors (individually defined target values based on available guidelines): LDL-cholesterol

Current values of LDL-cholesterol will be extracted from the medical record and the electronic portal and compared to the individually defined target values based on current guidelines and individuall assessement of the overall patient's situation

Success in reahin target values of relevant risk factors (individually defined target values based on available guidelines): HbA1c

Current values of HbA1c will be extracted from the medical record and the electronic portal and compared to the individually defined target values based on current guidelines and individuall assessement of the overall patient's situation

Inclusion Criteria: Patients in inpatient care in the stroke unit of one of the participating acute clinics who are insured at the BARMER health insurance agency with the following diagnosis (ICD-10): Ischemic attack (I63) Transient ischemic attack and related syndromes (G45) Intracerebral haermorrhage (I64) Written informed consent Sufficient mastery of German language Exclusion Criteria: Substantially impaired communication capacity due to aphasia or dementia Patients with artificial Respiration Insufficient adherence Premorbid score of mRS≥4 Patients with artificial Respiration (Z99.1) Dementia (F00.x., F01.x. or G30.x) or aphasia (R47) Death during inpatient Treatment or the Admission to a nursing home following the acute treatment

Rimmele DL, Schrage T, Brettschneider C, Engels A, Gerloff C, Harter M, Rosenkranz M, Schmidt H, Kriston L, Thomalla G. Rationale and design of an interventional study of cross-sectoral, coordinated treatment of stroke patients with patient-orientated outcome measurement (StroCare). Neurol Res Pract. 2021 Feb 2;3(1):7. doi: 10.1186/s42466-021-00107-2.