Temporal Trends in Suspected Stroke Incidents: A Time Series Analysis of Emergency Medical Service Calls

Abstract

Background: Stroke is recognized as the second leading cause of death and the primary cause of disability in developing and underdeveloped countries. This study investigated the time trend of calls for suspected stroke received by the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) from 2013 to 2019 in Shiraz, Iran.Methods: This was a descriptive - ecological study using time series data. The necessary data were extracted from the Shiraz Emergency Medical Center from 2013 to 2019. Excel 2013 and SPSS (version 24.0) were used for data analysis. The results were then presented in figures and tables.Results: From 2013 to 2019, the EMS call center in Shiraz City received 844,004 calls, of which 6,620 were suspected stroke cases. The number of suspected stroke cases demonstrated a steady trend within a certain range from 2013 to 2016. However, there was a significant increase between 2016 and 2017, after which the number of stroke cases reached relative stability. In the short-term seasonal trend, we found that the number of suspected stroke cases reported to EMS was higher in cold seasons compared to warm seasons.Conclusion: The results showed that the long-term trend of reported suspected stroke cases to EMS is currently stable, following a previous increase in Iran.

Keywords

• emergency medical services
• iran
• stroke
• time series analysis
• trends