Patient's understanding of and satisfaction with acute stroke treatment

Objective: We aimed to assess patient and surrogate understanding of and satisfaction with communication regarding acute stroke treatments of intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) and endovascular therapy (EVT). Methods: In this single health-system prospective observational study, patients or their surrogates were interviewed within 72 h of acute stroke therapy. Respondent's satisfaction and self-reported understanding were rated on a Likert scale. Responses to open-ended questions were evaluated for recall of purpose and risks of treatment. Results: Of 56 completed interviews (24 patients and 32 surrogates), 33 patients received IVT alone, 11 IVT and EVT, 12 EVT alone. Forty participants (71%) reported being extremely satisfied with their acute stroke care, 46 (82%) reported no difficulty understanding the purpose of treatment, while 36 (64%) reported no difficulty understanding risks. Two or more risks were verbalized by 8 (24%) participants for IVT, 2 (17%) for EVT, and 7 (64%) for both IVT and EVT. Brain bleeding was the most recalled risk for IVT and "lack of benefit" for EVT. Conclusions: Majority of the participants were extremely satisfied and reported no difficulty understanding purpose and risks of acute stroke treatment, however only 30% were able to verbalize two or more risks associated with the treatment.