Association between Stroke Quality Assessments and Mortality within 30 Days among Patients Who Underwent Hemorrhagic Stroke Surgeries in South Korea

Abstract

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> In South Korea, to improve the quality of medical services provided to stroke patients, stroke quality assessments have been implemented since 2006. To further promote improvement of care, financial incentives were introduced since 2012. This study aims to examine the association between stroke quality assessments and mortality within 30 days among South Korean adults who underwent hemorrhagic stroke surgeries to provide evidence of the importance of such assessments. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Data from 45,741 patients from 374 healthcare organizations, derived from the 2013–2016 claims data of the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, were examined. To ensure homogeneity, only patients who underwent hemorrhagic stroke surgeries were selected. Healthcare organizations were classified based on whether stroke quality assessments were conducted. The dependent variable of this study was death within 30 days of hospitalization. A generalized linear mixed model was constructed to analyze the association between variables. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Healthcare organizations without stroke quality assessments exhibited a higher risk of mortality than those that did (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.53, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.16–2.01). Among healthcare organizations with the lowest volume, those without stroke quality assessments had a higher risk of mortality than those that did (tertile 1 [low], adjusted OR = 1.38, 95% CI = 1.04–1.84). Among rural healthcare organizations, those without assessments had a higher risk of mortality than did those that did (adjusted OR = 1.61, 95% CI = 1.06–2.43). <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> The study identified a significant relationship between stroke quality assessments and 30-day mortality. Healthcare organizations without stroke quality assessments may exhibit a comparatively higher risk of mortality. Future interventions to minimize mortality and provide evidence for policymakers and healthcare leaders could involve expanding the scope of stroke quality assessment.