A cluster randomized trial to assess the impact of clinical pathways for patients with stroke: rationale and design of the Clinical Pathways for Effective and Appropriate Care Study [NCT00673491]

Table 1 The outcome indicators set

Indicator	Measure	Criterion met/expected change	Source, Year
In-hospital death rate within 30 days from admission to hospital	(%)	Differences in rates	Clinical Outcome Working Group, 1995, 1997; NHS Centre for Coding and Classification, 1990
In-hospital death rate within 30 days from stroke attack	(%)	Differences in rates
Post-discharge death rates (1, 3, 6, 12 months after discharge)	(%)	Differences in rates
In-patients length of stay	Days	Differences in means	Schmidt WP, 2003
Within 9 days length of stay in hospital patients' rate	(%)	Differences in rates
Pressure ulcers incidence rate	(%)	0%	Clark M, 1991; Effective Health Care, 1995
Overall in-hospital complications rate	(%)	4%	Adams HP Jr, 2003
Overall post-discharge complications rate	(%)	Differences in rates
Dependency at discharge	FIM scale	Differences in means	Gompertz P, 1993 Wade DT, 1987
Dependency at 6 months after stroke	FIM scale	Differences in means	Hardwood RH, 1994
Institutionalization at discharge	(%)	Differences in rates	Nikolaus T, 2000 Kalra L, 1995
In-hospital re-admission rate (within 30 days from discharge)	(%)	Differences in rates	Ebrahim S, 1987 Milne R, 1990
Return to pre-stroke functioning in daily life rate (with ADL/case mix adjustment)	(%)	Differences in rates	Early Supported Discharge Trialists (Cochrane 2005, Issue 2)

ISSN: 1472-6963