The Danish Stroke Registry

AIM OF DATABASE: The aim of the Danish Stroke Registry is to monitor and improve the quality of care among all patients with acute stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA) treated at Danish hospitals. STUDY POPULATION: All patients with acute stroke (from 2003) or TIA (from 2013) treated at Danish hospitals. Reporting is mandatory by law for all hospital departments treating these patients. The registry included >130,000 events by the end of 2014, including 10,822 strokes and 4,227 TIAs registered in 2014. MAIN VARIABLES: The registry holds prospectively collected data on key processes of care, mainly covering the early phase after stroke, including data on time of delivery of the processes and the eligibility of the individual patients for each process. The data are used for assessing 18 process indicators reflecting recommendations in the national clinical guidelines for patients with acute stroke and TIA. Patient outcomes are currently monitored using 30-day mortality, unplanned readmission, and for patients receiving revascularization therapy, also functional level at 3 months poststroke. DESCRIPTIVE DATA: Sociodemographic, clinical, and lifestyle factors with potential prognostic impact are registered. CONCLUSION: The Danish Stroke Registry is a well-established clinical registry which plays a key role for monitoring and improving stroke and TIA care in Denmark. In addition, the registry is increasingly used for research.