The aim of this study was to assess regional variations of the hospital management of stroke patients during acute and post-acute phases in France in 2015.

Hospitalized patients coded with stroke as their main diagnosis or, if hospitalized in several different wards, any main ward diagnosis were identified in the 2015 French national hospital discharge database for acute care. Rates of hospitalization in stroke units (SUs) were assessed at a national level and in all metropolitan and overseas regions. All stroke survivors discharged at the end of the acute phase were subsequently identified in the national database for post-acute rehabilitation hospitalization (PARH) within 3 months.

In the acute phase, half the stroke patients hospitalized for intracerebral hemorrhage, cerebral infarction or unspecified stroke were admitted to SUs. However, there were variations across metropolitan regions (from 30% to 69%) and in overseas regions (from 1% to 59%); these rates correlated with regional ratios of SU beds/100,000 inhabitants. There were also regional differences in PARH rates—in hemiplegic stroke patients, 62% were admitted for PARH (range: 58% to 67%) in metropolitan regions and, overseas, from 8% to 67%—as well as geographical discrepancies in PARH rates to specialized rehabilitation units. Hospitalization rates of hemiplegic stroke patients in neurological rehabilitation centers were 30% for the whole country, but ranged from 23% to 36% in metropolitan regions and from 2% to 45% in overseas regions.

This study focused on hospital-based management of stroke patients. In spite of the creation of new SUs over the past decade in France, there are persistent regional differences in the number of SU beds/100,000 inhabitants and, consequently, in the rate of stroke patients managed in SUs. However, rates continue to improve with the creation of new SUs and the expansion of existing ones. Regional variations were also noted for post-acute hospitalization rates and PARH beds/places.