Abstract TP319: Racial and Gender Differences in Tissue Plasminogen Activase Metrics Over Telemedicine

Introduction: Several studies have demonstrated racial/ethnic and gender disparities in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) management which persist after adjustment for measures of socioeconomic status. As AIS management and intravenous tissue plasminogen activase (tPA) treatment via telemedicine (TM) increases, it is important to assess for differences in treatment metrics by race/ethnicity and gender. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that there are no racial/ethnic or gender differences in tPA metrics over TM. Methods: We identified 349 patients in our TM stroke registry who received tPA at one of our 14 spoke hospitals from 2/2014 to 5/2015. We abstracted baseline characteristics, and compared tPA metrics among different groups, including race/ethnicity (White, Black, Hispanic, Asian) and gender. Results: Baseline characteristics and clinical variables are found in both tables. The median time between TM code stroke alert and tPA administration was longer for women compared to men (44.5 vs 40, p=0.00), which is reflected in a significantly longer median DTN time for women (73 vs 64, p=0.01) (Table 1). This difference persisted when adjusted for age, race, and baseline NIHSS (p=0.01). However, there was no significant difference in tPA metrics between race in our dataset (Table 2). Conclusion: Further investigation is needed to define factors contributing to gender difference in tPA treatment metrics over TM.