The Quindío stroke network: impact of an integrated care model on mortality and functional outcomes in a middle-income country.

Introduction: Stroke is a major cause of death and disability worldwide, with low- and middle-income countries bearing the highest burden of this condition. To address regional shortcomings in access to reperfusion therapies-particularly thrombolysis-the Red ACV-Quindío was established as the first integrated network for stroke management in central Colombia. Methodology: This pre-post quasi-experimental study evaluated the Red ACV-Quindío strategy. The study estimated functional outcomes and in-hospital mortality in patients diagnosed with stroke before and after the implementation of the network. Results: The study included a total of 841 cases. Although year-by-year variations in patient volume were detected, linear tests confirmed a homogeneous population across the study period. Baseline clinical characteristics remained stable throughout: most patients presented with minor stroke (47.1%) and low functional dependency at admission (89.0%). At discharge, overall functional independence reached 55.0% (95% CI: 51.6-58.4, Discussion: These findings suggest that regionally integrated stroke care networks represent an effective public health intervention to mitigate stroke-associated disability and mortality in resource-limited settings.