Table 2 Characteristics of 1269 patients with symptoms suggestive of TIA or stroke calling the OHS-PC

 Median age in years (IQR)

73.5 (59.0–84.0)

69.0 (55.0–82.0)

< 0.001

 Female sex

441 (57.3)

281 (56.3)

0.736

 Family history of CVD (n = 36)

14 (82.4)

13 (68.4)

0.451^&

 Cardiovascular disease (n = 882)

421 (79.1)

259 (74.0)

0.076

 TIA (n = 637)

116 (29.7)

60 (24.4)

0.147

 Stroke (n = 637)

113 (28.9)

60 (24.4)

0.213

 Coronary artery disease (n = 303)

36 (20.6)

18 (14.1)

0.144

 Arrhythmia (n = 292)

32 (19.5)

25 (19.5)

0.997

 Valvular heart disease (n = 260)

16 (10.9)

9 (8.0)

0.429

 Heart failure (n = 263)

14 (9.5)

10 (8.7)

0.831

 Epilepsy (n = 233)

15 (11.6)

9 (8.7)

0.458

 Migraine (n = 102)

17 (27.0)

14 (35.9)

0.342

Cardiovascular risk factors:

14 (9.5)

10 (8.7)

0.831

 Hypertension (n = 421)

121 (50.2)

85 (47.2)

0.544

 Hypercholesterolemia or use of statins (n = 395)

95 (43.0)

75 (43.1)

0.981

 Diabetes mellitus (n = 417)

87 (36.7)

63 (35.0)

0.719

 Antithrombotics (n = 939)

290 (48.7)

149 (43.4)

0.123

 Other cardiovascular medication (n = 764)

253 (57.55)

178 (54.9)

0.480

 Median call duration in min:sec (IQR)

06:32 (04:43–08:54)

07:59 (05:54–10:50)

< 0.001

 Median time for caller’s introduction in min:sec (IQR)

00:19 (00:12–00:27)

00:20 (00:13–00:29)

0.189

 Initial call by someone else than the patient

621 (80.6)

342 (68.5)

< 0.001

 Triage nurse consulted the general practitioner

449 (58.3)

305 (61.1)

0.319

 Neurological deficit

587 (76.2)

220 (44.1)

< 0.001

 Dizziness

21 (2.7)

87 (17.4)

< 0.001

 Headache

23 (3.0)

28 (5.6)

0.020

 Odd behavior

21 (2.7)

18 (3.6)

0.375

 Syncope

20 (2.6)

9 (1.8)

0.355

 Vision problem

2 (0.3)

25 (5.0)

< 0.001^&

 Leg or arm problem

11 (1.4)

34 (6.8)

< 0.001

 Other^{^}

85 (11.0)

78 (15.6)

0.017

 Decreased or loss of consciousness (n = 1103)

49 (7.4)

21 (4.8)

0.081

 Face drooping (n = 713)

258 (54.3)

93 (39.1)

< 0.001

 Arm weakness (n = 772)

254 (51.0)

77 (28.1)

< 0.001

 Leg weakness (n = 653)

201 (49.0)

85 (35.0)

< 0.001

 Sensory disturbances (n = 375)

192 (89.7)

150 (93.2)

0.243

 Communication problem in general (n = 769)

413 (80.8)

187 (72.5)

0.008

 Dysarthria (n = 416)

181 (65.1)

76 (55.1)

0.047

 Dysphasia (n = 419)

163 (59.1)

72 (50.3)

0.089

 Vision problem in general (n = 184)

68 (78.2)

82 (84.5)

0.266

 Blurry vision (n = 74)

27 (77.1)

27 (69.2)

0.444

 Diplopia (n = 74)

14 (63.6)

23 (44.2)

0.127

 Reduced vision (n = 62)

15 (53.6)

22 (64.7)

0.374

 Headache (n = 497)

147 (57.0)

140 (58.6)

0.718

 Loss of balance/motor coordination (ataxia) (n = 236)

130 (86.1)

66 (77.6)

0.097

 Dizziness (n = 312)

120 (82.2)

143 (86.1)

0.338

 Seizure (n = 11)

4 (66.7)

3 (60.0)

0.819^&

 Short term memory loss (n = 68)

33 (76.7)

21 (84.0)

0.476

 Shortness of breath (n = 403)

62 (24.4)

25 (16.8)

0.072

 Sweating (n = 208)

47 (36.7)

45 (56.3)

0.006

 Nausea or vomiting (n = 311)

84 (61.8)

94 (53.7)

0.155

 Pallor (n = 255)

54 (32.7)

27 (30.0)

0.655

 Ashen skin (n = 198)

18 (14.1)

12 (17.1)

0.563

 (Feeling of nearly) fainting (n = 1103)

57 (8.6)

41 (9.3)

0.680

 Per acute (seconds) (n = 211)

52 (44.1)

56 (60.2)

0.020

 Acute (minutes) (n = 211)

46 (39.0)

23 (24.7)

0.028

 Gradually (hours) (n = 211)

20 (16.9)

14 (15.1)

0.710

 Duration of symptoms ≤4.5 h (n = 986)

381 (61.4)

203 (55.6)

0.077

 Symptoms still present at time of calling (n = 1254)

716 (93.4)

438 (89.9)

0.030

 Caller expresses concern (n = 628)

334 (90.3)

248 (96.1)

0.006

 Patient never experienced similar symptoms before (n = 368)

104 (49.8)

68 (42.8)

0.183

 TIA (n = 368)

40 (19.1)

26 (16.4)

0.490

 Stroke (n = 368)

25 (12.0)

16 (10.1)

0.566