Age gap between stroke patients included in randomized clinical trials of acute revascularization therapy and those in population-based studies. A review

Background: The ongoing aging population in high-income countries is responsible for a dramatic rise in the number of elderly stroke patients in whom many questions remain regarding the use of acute revascularization therapy. This review aimed to compare stroke patients from population-based studies to those included in RCTs in terms of age. Summary: Population-based incidence studies conducted in high income that complied with the defined quality criteria were reviewed (period 1985-2020). RCTs of acute ischemic stroke therapy including intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) with either alteplase or tenecteplase and mechanical thrombectomy (MT) were retrieved from systematic reviews performed in recent guidelines from the European Stroke Organisation. When available, information on either mean and/or median age was extracted from each selected article. As a result, 36 population-based registries were included, 34 of which recorded patients with first-ever stroke over 63 distinct time periods with a total of 38,188 patients. Twenty-nine RCTs enrolling 11,666 patients were identified including 13 RCTs related to IVT with alteplase, 11 RCTs about MT, and 5 RCTs on IVT with tenecteplase. A gap in age between stroke patients in the RCTs and those in population-based studies was observed. With few exceptions, mean age of patients in the RCTs was about 4 years younger than in population-based studies, while the median age was approximately 7 years younger. Thirty-five (83%) population-base...
Source: Neuroepidemiology - Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research