ArticleBMC health services research2017
Towards best practice in acute stroke care in Ghana: a survey of hospital services.
Article in BMC health services research, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 67 citations in OpenAlex.
- Strategies for specialty training of healthcare professionals in low-resource settings: a systematic review on evidence from stroke care.BMC medical education · 2023Pooled it
- Association of the COVID-19 pandemic on stroke admissions and treatment globally: a systematic review.BMJ open · 2023Pooled it
- Interventions for acute stroke management in Africa: a systematic review of the evidence.Systematic reviews · 2017Pooled it
- Health professionals' views on the barriers and enablers to evidence-based practice for acute stroke care: a systematic review.Implementation science : IS · 2017Pooled it
- Prehospital stroke care in low- and middle-income countries: A World Stroke Organization (WSO) scientific statement.International journal of stroke : official journal of the International Stroke Society · 2025Review
- Delays in the Stroke Care Pathway in a Low-Income Setting: An Audit Study from Mozambique.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Observational
- Developing a strategic action plan for reducing the burden of stroke in Africa: report of the first African Stroke Leaders' Summit.Frontiers in stroke · 2025Article
- Stroke in Ghana: A Situational Analysis.Stroke research and treatment · 2025Review
- Assessment of acute stroke care, stroke metrics and patient outcomes: analysis from the pre-implementation phase of the IMPETUS stroke study.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Article
- Review
- Knowledge on Stroke Recognition and Management among Emergency Department Healthcare Professionals in the Republic of Cyprus.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Pragmatic solutions to reduce the global burden of stroke: a World Stroke Organization-Lancet Neurology Commission.The Lancet. Neurology · 2023Review
- The essential role of neuroimaging in diagnosing and managing cerebrovascular disease in Africa: a review.Annals of medicine · 2023Review
- Perceptions of health professionals on structure and process of stroke rehabilitation in Ghana.African journal of disability · 2023Article
- Quality of acute ischemic stroke care at a tertiary Hospital in Ghana.BMC neurology · 2022Article
- An evaluation of the structure and process of stroke rehabilitation in primary, secondary and tertiary hospitals in Ghana.The South African journal of physiotherapy · 2022Article
- Assessing the readiness of hospitals in Riyadh Province for efficient and timely stroke management: A pilot study.Neurosciences (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) · 2021Observational
- Improving stroke care in Ghana: a roundtable discussion with communities, healthcare providers, policymakers and civil society organisations.Ghana medical journal · 2021Article
- Achieving universal health coverage for people with stroke in South Africa: protocol for a scoping review.BMJ open · 2020Article
- Family medicine residency training in Ghana after 20 years: resident attitudes about their education.Family medicine and community health · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundStroke and other non-communicable diseases are important emerging public health concerns in sub-Saharan Africa where stroke-related mortality and morbidity are higher compared to other parts of the world. Despite the availability of evidence-based acute stroke interventions globally, uptake in low-middle income countries (LMIC) such as Ghana is uncertain. This study aimed to identify and evaluate available acute stroke services in Ghana and the extent to which these services align with global best practice.
methodsA multi-site, hospital-based survey was conducted in 11 major referral hospitals (regional and tertiary - teaching hospitals) in Ghana from November 2015 to April 2016. Respondents included neurologists, physician specialists and medical officers (general physicians). A pre-tested, structured questionnaire was used to gather data on available hospital-based acute stroke services in the study sites, using The World Stroke Organisation Global Stroke Services Guideline as a reference for global standards.
resultsAvailability of evidence-based services for acute stroke care in the study hospitals were varied and limited. The results showed one tertiary-teaching hospital had a stroke unit. However, thrombolytic therapy (thrombolysis) using recombinant tissue plasminogen activator for acute ischemic stroke care was not available in any of the study hospitals. Aspirin therapy was administered in all the 11 study hospitals. Although eight study sites reported having a brain computed tomographic (CT) scan, only 7 (63.6%) were functional at the time of the study. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI scan) services were also limited to only 4 (36.4%) hospitals (only functional in three). Acute stroke care by specialists, especially neurologists, was found in 36.4% (4) of the study hospitals whilst none of the study hospitals had an occupational or a speech pathologist to support in the provision of acute stroke care.
conclusionThis study confirms previous reports of limited and variable provision of evidence based stroke services and the low priority for stroke care in resource poor settings. Health policy initiatives to enhance uptake of evidence-based acute stroke services is required to reduce stroke-related mortality and morbidity in countries such as Ghana.
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