Background and Purpose—: We aimed to develop and validate a simple prehospital stroke scale to predict the presence of large vessel occlusion (LVO) in patients with acute stroke. Methods—: The Rapid Arterial oCclusion Evaluation (RACE) scale was designed based on the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) items with a higher predictive value of LVO on a retrospective cohort of 654 patients with acute ischemic stroke: facial palsy (scored 0–2), arm motor function (0–2), leg motor function (0–2), gaze (0–1), and aphasia or agnosia (0–2). Thereafter, the RACE scale was validated prospectively in the field by trained medical emergency technicians in 357 consecutive patients transferred by Emergency Medical Services to our Comprehensive Stroke Center. Neurologists evaluated stroke severity at admission and LVO was diagnosed by transcranial duplex, computed tomography, or MR angiography. Receiver operating curve, sensitivity, specificity, and global accuracy of the RACE scale were analyzed to evaluate its predictive value for LVO. Results—: In the prospective cohort, the RACE scale showed a strong correlation with NIHSS ( r =0.76; P <0.001). LVO was detected in 76 of 357 patients (21%). Receiver operating curves showed a similar capacity to predict LVO of the RACE scale compared with the NIHSS (area under the curve 0.82 and 0.85, respectively). A RACE scale ≥5 had sensitivity 0.85, specificity 0.68, positive predictive value 0.42, and negative predictive value 0.94 for detecting LVO. Conclusions—: The RACE scale is a simple tool that can accurately assess stroke severity and identify patients with acute stroke with large artery occlusion at prehospital setting by medical emergency technicians.

Background and purpose Our aim was to revalidate the RACE scale, a prehospital tool that aims to identify patients with large vessel occlusion (LVO), after its region-wide implementation in Catalonia, and to analyze geographical differences in access to endovascular treatment (EVT). Methods We used data from the prospective CICAT registry (Stroke Code Catalan registry) that includes all stroke code activations. The RACE score evaluated by emergency medical services, time metrics, final diagnosis, presence of LVO, and type of revascularization treatment were registered. Sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve (AUC) for the RACE cut-off value ≥5 for identification of both LVO and eligibility for EVT were calculated. We compared the rate of EVT and time to EVT of patients transferred from referral centers compared with those directly presenting to comprehensive stroke centers (CSC). Results The RACE scale was evaluated in the field in 1822 patients, showing a strong correlation with the subsequent in-hospital evaluation of the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale evaluated at hospital (r=0.74, P<0.001). A RACE score ≥5 detected LVO with a sensitivity 0.79 and specificity 0.62 (AUC 0.76). Patients with RACE ≥5 harbored a LVO and received EVT more frequently than RACE <5 patients (LVO 35% vs 6%; EVT 20% vs 6%; all P<0.001). Direct admission at a CSC was independently associated with higher odds of receiving EVT compared with admission at a referral center (OR 2.40; 95% CI 1.66 to 3.46), and symtoms onset to groin puncture was 133 min shorter. Conclusions This large validation study confirms RACE accuracy to identify stroke patients eligible for EVT, and provides evidence of geographical imbalances in the access to EVT to the detriment of patients located in remote areas.

Prehospital clinical scales to identify patients with acute stroke with a large vessel occlusion (LVO) and direct them to an endovascular-capable stroke center are needed. We evaluated whether simplification of the Rapid Arterial oCclusion Evaluation (RACE) scale, a 5-item scale previously validated in the field, could maintain its high performance to identify patients with LVO. Using the original prospective validation cohort of the RACE scale, 7 simpler versions of the RACE scale were designed and retrospectively recalculated for each patient. National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score and proximal LVO were evaluated in hospital. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed to test performance of the simplified versions to identify LVO. For each version, the threshold with sensitivity closest to the original scale (85%) was used, and the variation in specificity and correct classification were assessed. The study included 341 patients with suspected stroke; 20% had LVO. The 7 simpler versions of the RACE scale had slightly lower area under the curve for detecting LVO because of lower specificity at the chosen sensitivity level. Correct classification rate decreased 9% if facial palsy was simplified or if eye or gaze deviation was removed, and decreased 4.5% if the aphasia or agnosia cortical sign was removed. We recommend the original RACE scale for prehospital assessment of patients with suspected stroke for its ease of use and its high performance to predict the presence of a LVO. The use of simplified versions would reduce its predictive value.

Strokes are a time-dependent medical emergency. The training of emergency medical service (EMS) professionals is essential to ensure the activation of stroke codes with pre-notification, as well as a rapid transfer to achieve early therapy. New assessment scales for the detection of patients with suspected large vessel occlusion ensures earlier access to endovascular therapy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact on an online training intervention focused on the Rapid Arterial oCclusion Evaluation (RACE) scoring of EMS professionals based on the prehospital stroke code in Catalonia from 2014 to 2018 in a pre–post intervention study. All Catalonian EMS professionals and the clinical records from primary stroke patients were included. The Kirkpatrick model guided the evaluation of the intervention. Data were collected on the knowledge on stroke recognition and management, pre-notification compliance, activated stroke codes and time performance of EMS professionals. Knowledge improved significatively in most items and across all categories, reaching a global achievement of 82%. Pre-notification compliance also improved significantly and remained high in the long-term. Increasingly higher notification of RACE scores were recorded from 60% at baseline to 96.3% in 2018, and increased on-site clinical care time and global time were also observed. Therefore, the online training intervention was effective for increasing EMS professionals’ knowledge and pre-notification compliance upon stroke code activation, and the wide adoption of a new prehospital scale for the assessment of stroke severity (i.e., the RACE scale) was achieved.

This paper aims to perform a bibliometric and gender perspective analysis of scientific publications in Scopus and Web of Science in the area of Peruvian nursing. A bibliometric analysis design was used. The analysis comprised 130 articles in Scopus and 104 articles in Web of Science. The main indicators included the annual production of articles, the most cited authors and articles, and a thematic analysis of the keywords. In terms of authorship in Scopus, there are seven women among the first 10 authors, but in Web of Science, there are only 3. For citations, female nurses and authors at Scopus receive a higher proportion of citations than males. However, in Web of Science, male nurses receive proportionately more citations. Regarding the first 10 journals we found on the Web of Science, Emerging Source Citation Index journals have more indexed articles than Journal Citation Reports journals. The statistical correlation coefficient between the articles published in Scopus and Web of Science is 0.92. The scientific production in Peru in the nursing field shows no female bias in Scopus, but that is not the case for Web of Science. In addition, the total number of articles published in Peru respecting other fields is low, as is the level of international collaboration between the authors.