Provider perceptions of barriers to the emergency use of tPA for Acute Ischemic Stroke: A qualitative study

BMC Emergency Medicine

Table 3 Sub Categories of Identified Barriers External to the Individual Provider

Environmental Factors	n	Patient Factors	n
Radiology	195	Delayed presentation	92
-Access to scanner	43	Symptom recognition - patients/family	50
-Acute stroke communication	79	Family issues	15
-Interpretation confidence	51	Language	5
Limited neurology	108	Adverse to taking ambulance	5
ED overcrowding	54	Demand for tPA	4
Laboratory	49	Age of population	2
EMS	46
-Hospital notification	4
-Speed	9
-Symptom recognition	16
Pharmacy and drug Delivery	39
Liability	39
Lack of a protocol	38
Triage	36
Difficulty arranging for transfer	31
Inpatient/ICU Bed Availability	26
Limited neurosurgery	24
Lack of follow up feedback	18
Geography	14
Financial issues	9
Transfer from clinics	6
Inaccurate patient weight	4

External barriers that were categorized into themes. The numbers represent the total number of times these items were discussed as a barrier (within the coding unit or paragraph of a transcript). For example, four separate paragraphs had reference to the inaccurate patient weight barrier. This could have been four separate responses from one participant or four separate responses from four participants. Since each paragraph could be assigned anywhere from zero to nine major themes, and an unlimited number of minor themes there is no total or denominator for the coded responses.

ISSN: 1471-227X