Map Details – Geographic Analysis of Drive Time to Certified Stroke Centers in the Tri-State Stroke Network Region (South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia)

Impact Statement

The map shows 30- and 60-minute drive times to Joint Commission–certified primary stroke centers (JCPSCs) and other hospitals with stroke care quality improvement initiatives in the tri-state region of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Drive times are overlaid onto county-level, age-adjusted stroke death rates aggregated for the years 2001 through 2005. The map illustrates the extent that residents of this area of historically high stroke death rate, lack timely access to JCPSCs.

Geographic Analysis of Drive Time to Certified Stroke Centers in the Tri-State Stroke Network Region (South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia)

We found that approximately 55% of the population resided within a 30-minute drive time to a JCPSC, and 77% resided within a 60-minute drive time to a JCPSC (Table). We found that higher proportions of Hispanics (vs non-Hispanic blacks and non-Hispanic whites), people with more than a high school education (vs those with a high school education or less), people living in urban areas (vs those in rural areas), and people at or above the poverty level (vs those living in poverty) lived within either a 30- or 60-minute drive time to a JCPSC. Twenty-six percent of people living in rural areas lived within a 30-minute drive time to a JCPSC compared with 70% of those living in urban areas.

The map was created to assess patient access to Specialized Stroke care. We estimated demographic characteristics (race, ethnicity, urban-rural, poverty) residing within the drive time areas by extrapolating from the areal proportion of census tracks within each drive time and performed χ2 analyses.

ESRI Network Analyst 9.3 and SAS 9.1

StreetMap Pro 2007, US Census 2000, hospitals certified as JCPSCs as of September 27, 2010, Paul Coverdell PCNASR or Get With The Guidelines participants.

Using Network Analyst 9.3 and StreetMap Pro 2007, drive time distance was generated for 30 and 60 minute drive times from hospitals. Age-adjusted county-level stroke death rates were overlaid onto the drive-time areas.

Ishmael Williams, GIS Analyst, CDC DHDSP
(770) 488-8060
ibw1@cdc.gov

Geographic Analysis of Drive Time to Certified Stroke Centers in the Tri-State Stroke Network Region (South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia) Jenna A. Khan, MPH; University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, Chicago, Illinois, [TODAY’S DATE].