Gender disparity in the access of elderly patients to acute stroke care

Background: Gender differences in management of acute coronary symptoms are well documented. This study was performed to determine whether similar gender disparities exist in acute stroke, in particular with regard to early hospital admission and thrombolytic therapy. Methods: We analysed a large prospective hospital-based stroke registry with more than 100 hospitals enrolling stroke patients into this computerized database. Within a 7-year period (1999–2005), all cases with a final diagnosis of cerebral infarction (ICD-10: I63) or intracerebral hemorrage (ICD-10: I61) were selected. Datasets with missing values…