Stroke Outcome Analysis and Registry in Trinidad and Tobago

This is a prospective observational study. Persons admitted with a diagnosis of stroke or transient ischemic attack at Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Trinidad and Tobago will be screened for eligibility.

Persons with a neurological deficit and corresponding computerized tomography (CT) imaging that confirms the diagnosis of stroke or transient ischemic attack will be recruited into the study. Demographic and clinical data will be collected from the participant's medical file and entered into a case report form. Each participant will have a unique code to provide anonymity. At three months following the admission date, the participant or relative will be contacted via telephone The participant's functional outcome will be assessed via this telephone interview and data entered into the case report form as a score on the modified rankin scale.

Verbal consent will be obtained over the phone in the presence of two witnesses, one on the end of the participant and another on the end of the investigator. The investigator will sign the consent form to confirm verbal consent was given on behalf of the participant, only after a discussion regarding the study, its methods, risks, benefits, confidentiality and informing the participant of their right to withdraw at any point. The two witnesses will also be recorded.

Data will be coded per participant by first letter of first name, first letter of last name followed by numerical date of birth in the order day, month and year in a password protected and encrypted database program in the double-locked office of investigator, Dr. Naveen Seecheran at the Department of Clinical Medicine office, 2nd Floor, Building 34, Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex. Each case report form and study database will be reviewed by two clinical research associates to minimize error, clean and reconcile any conflicting data.

One thousand, three hundred and twenty persons will be approached for enrolment of this study with an aim of data from 1053 participants being entered into this study, catering for loss to follow up and calculated using power 90 percent and minimal detectable difference 10 percent. The probability is 90 percent that the study will detect a relationship between the independent and dependent variables at a two sided 0.05 significance level, if the true change in the dependent variable is 0.100 standard deviations per one standard deviation chance in the independent variable. Cases with missing or unreported data will not be enrolled in this study.

The study biostatistician will perform routine statistical analyses with SPSS v. 24.0 software (SPSS, Chicago, IL). Continuous variables are expressed as means ± standard deviation. Categorical variables are to be expressed as frequencies and percentages. Student's t test will be used to compare continuous variables. Comparisons between categorical variables will be performed using two-tailed Fisher's exact test or the Pearson's χ2 test, as appropriate. A p value of < 0.05 will be considered statistically significant. No adjustments for multiple comparisons will be made. Results will be reported as least-square mean ± Standard Error of the Mean for the detailed analyses.

Inclusion criteria

• more than 18 years of age
• have a neurological deficit with Computerized Tomography (CT) imaging confirming the diagnosis of a stroke (including both ischemic, hemorrhagic, and subarachnoid hemorrhage) and transient ischemic attack.
• Participant or relative must be accessible via telephone for 3 month follow up.

Exclusion criteria

• Patients who are initially presumed as stroke due to neurological deficits or symptoms but have an alternative diagnosis on Computerized Tomography (CT) imaging.