September 21, 2016 – We conducted a survey to determine what percentage of Texans have access to stroke research via their local stroke-designated hospitals. All Level I, II, and III stroke-designated hospitals listed on the State of Texas’ Department of State Health Services website were contacted. Information was obtained by email or phone using a standardized survey. One hundred and nine of the 136 stroke-designated hospitals participated.

The data was analyzed to determine what percentage of Texans lacked access to stroke research at their local stroke-designated hospital. We discovered that more than 50 percent of Texans lack access to stroke research. The vast majority of stroke research is conducted in the five major metropolitan counties in Texas (Harris, Bexar, Tarrant, Dallas, and Travis) where the majority of the state’s Comprehensive Stroke Centers are located.

This survey suggests further efforts are needed to increase patient access to stroke research – ideally, by creating a collaboration among Level I, II, and III stroke-designated hospitals and Comprehensive Stroke Centers via telemedicine.Increasing patient access to stroke research affords more Texans the opportunity to receive promising new therapies. It also has the potential to expedite the testing of new therapies by expanding the available population of participants.

An abstract on this work has been submitted to the 2017 International Stroke Conference.