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The PRESTO study: awareness of stroke symptoms and time from onset to intervention

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Abstract 

Timely access to medical assistance is the first crucial step to improving clinical outcomes of stroke patients. Many educational campaigns have been organized with the purpose of making people aware of what a stroke is and what is necessary to do after its clinical onset. The PRESTO campaign was organized in Genoa (Italy) to spread easy messages regarding the management of the acute phase of stroke. Educational material was disseminated to educate people to call the emergency medical services as soon as symptoms appear. Data collected were analyzed in three different phases of the campaign: before the beginning, during, and after the end. We enrolled 1,132 patients with ischemic stroke admitted to hospital within 24 hours of symptoms onset. Our data showed a mild reduction in onset-to-door time (24 minutes) during the months following the end of the campaign and a slight increase in number of patients who arrived at hospitals, in particular with milder symptoms and transient ischemic attack, as opposed to the same period before the campaign. Interestingly, in the months after the end of the campaign, we observed a slight reduction of the percentage of patients who accessed hospitals after 4.5 hours from symptoms onset. In conclusion, our results may suggest that an informative campaign can be successful in making people rapidly aware of stroke onset, with the consequent rapid access to hospitals. Considering the changing of way of access to information, we think that an extensive multimedia campaign should be evaluated in the next future.

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Funding

The PRESTO campaign was financially supported by Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Genova ed Imperia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neurology Unit, Ente Ospedaliero Ospedali Galliera, Via Mura delle Cappuccine 14, 16128, Genoa, Italy

    Ilaria Gandoglia, Erika Schirinzi, Maria Gabriella Poeta, Laura Strada & Massimo Del Sette

  2. Neurological Clinic, IRCCS Policlinico San Martino, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy

    Mehrnaz Hamedani, Maurizio Balestrino, Monica Bandettini Di Poggio & Angelo Schenone

  3. A.L.I.Ce. Liguria ODV, Genoa, Italy

    Nicoletta Reale, Rosamaria Cecconi, Carlo Gandolfo & Massimo Del Sette

  4. Scientific Direction, Ente Ospedaliero Ospedali Galliera, Genoa, Italy

    Giacomo Siri

  5. Neurology Unit, Ospedale Villa Scassi, Genoa, Italy

    Fabio Bandini & Laura Filippi

  6. Neuroscience DIAR Liguria, Liguria, Italy

    Carlo Serrati

  7. Neurology Department ASL1, Imperia, Italy

    Carlo Serrati

  8. Stroke Unit, IRCCS Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy

    Cinzia Finocchi, Laura Malfatto & Massimo Del Sette

  9. Neuroradiology Unit, IRCCS Policlinico San Martino, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy

    Lucio Castellan

Authors
  1. Ilaria Gandoglia
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  2. Erika Schirinzi
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  3. Mehrnaz Hamedani
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  4. Nicoletta Reale
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  5. Giacomo Siri
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  6. Rosamaria Cecconi
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  7. Carlo Gandolfo
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  8. Maurizio Balestrino
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  9. Monica Bandettini Di Poggio
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  10. Fabio Bandini
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  11. Laura Filippi
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  12. Maria Gabriella Poeta
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  13. Laura Strada
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  14. Carlo Serrati
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  15. Cinzia Finocchi
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  16. Laura Malfatto
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  17. Lucio Castellan
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  18. Angelo Schenone
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  19. Massimo Del Sette
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ilaria Gandoglia.

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Gandoglia, I., Schirinzi, E., Hamedani, M. et al. The PRESTO study: awareness of stroke symptoms and time from onset to intervention. Neurol Sci 44, 229–236 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-022-06399-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-022-06399-9

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