• Ralph L Sacco, Hannah Gardener, Kefeng Wang, Chuanhui Dong, Maria A Ciliberti-Vargas, Carolina M Gutierrez, Negar Asdaghi, W Scott Burgin, Olveen Carrasquillo, Enid J Garcia-Rivera, Ulises Nobo, Sofia Oluwole, David Z Rose, Michael F Waters, Juan Carlos Zevallos, Mary Robichaux, Salina P Waddy, Jose G Romano, Tatjana Rundek, and FL‐PR CReSD Investigators and Collaborators.
• University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL rsacco@med.miami.edu.
• J Am Heart Assoc. 2017 Feb 14; 6 (2).

BackgroundRacial-ethnic disparities in acute stroke care can contribute to inequality in stroke outcomes. We examined race-ethnic disparities in acute stroke performance metrics in a voluntary stroke registry among Florida and Puerto Rico Get With the Guidelines-Stroke hospitals.Methods And ResultsSeventy-five sites in the Florida Puerto Rico Stroke Registry (66 Florida and 9 Puerto Rico) recorded 58 864 ischemic stroke cases (2010-2014). Logistic regression models examined racial-ethnic differences in acute stroke performance measures and defect-free care (intravenous tissue plasminogen activator treatment, in-hospital antithrombotic therapy, deep vein thrombosis prophylaxis, discharge antithrombotic therapy, appropriate anticoagulation therapy, statin use, smoking cessation counseling) and temporal trends. Among ischemic stroke cases, 63% were non-Hispanic white (NHW), 18% were non-Hispanic black (NHB), 14% were Hispanic living in Florida, and 6% were Hispanic living in Puerto Rico. NHW patients were the oldest, followed by Hispanics, and NHBs. Defect-free care was greatest among NHBs (81%), followed by NHWs (79%) and Florida Hispanics (79%), then Puerto Rico Hispanics (57%) (P<0.0001). Puerto Rico Hispanics were less likely than Florida whites to meet any stroke care performance metric other than anticoagulation. Defect-free care improved for all groups during 2010-2014, but the disparity in Puerto Rico persisted (2010: NHWs=63%, NHBs=65%, Florida Hispanics=59%, Puerto Rico Hispanics=31%; 2014: NHWs=93%, NHBs=94%, Florida Hispanics=94%, Puerto Rico Hispanics=63%).ConclusionsRacial-ethnic/geographic disparities were observed for acute stroke care performance metrics. Adoption of a quality improvement program improved stroke care from 2010 to 2014 in Puerto Rico and all Florida racial-ethnic groups. However, stroke care quality delivered in Puerto Rico is lower than in Florida. Sustained support of evidence-based acute stroke quality improvement programs is required to improve stroke care and minimize racial-ethnic disparities, particularly in resource-strained Puerto Rico.© 2017 The Authors. Published on behalf of the American Heart Association, Inc., by Wiley Blackwell.

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