ArticleJournal of education and health promotion2026
Exploring the reasons stroke patients do not use emergency medical services: A qualitative study.
Article in Journal of education and health promotion, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDespite the well-established benefits of using Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in the management of stroke, the rate of EMS usage among stroke patients remains significantly low. This study was undertaken to explore and elucidate the underlying reasons for the underutilization of EMS by individuals experiencing stroke. MATERIALS AND
methodsThis qualitative content analysis was conducted in 2025 in hospitals affiliated with Lorestan University of Medical Sciences and Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Iran, with 17 participants, including stroke patients and their family members. Participants were purposively selected, and data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The data were analyzed using Graneheim and Lundman.s conventional content analysis approach. To ensure the trustworthiness of the findings, the recommendations of Lincoln and Guba were followed. MAXQDA version 18 software (VERBI Software, Berlin, Germany) was used for data management.
resultsAfter the analysis of the interviews, the findings were categorized into three main themes: deficiency in awareness, inappropriate organizational context, and attitudes and misconceptions. Seven subcategories were also identified, namely, lack of knowledge of EMS, symptom underestimation, negative experiences with EMS, limited access to EMS services, secrecy, fatalism, and high threshold for seeking help.
conclusionThe findings indicate that patients often lack sufficient knowledge about stroke and the benefits of using EMS. Factors such as limited awareness of EMS, inadequate access, and various cultural and social influences contribute to the underutilization of these services. It is recommended that targeted community education initiatives be implemented to enhance public awareness of stroke symptoms and emphasize the critical role of EMS in the prehospital management of stroke patients.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.