Abstract Body: Background: We sought to find a relationship between historically redlined communities and mobile stroke unit (MSU) call density using geospatial software.
Methods: The Mobile Stroke Treatment Unit of metropolitan Columbus, Ohio, provides emergency stroke care coverage for 325 square miles spanning 47 zip codes. Our MSU is operational from 0700-1900 and is dispatched for all 911 calls designated as probable or definite strokes. We retrospectively reviewed all MSU calls from June 2019 to December 2023. and included all confirmed stroke patients in this analysis. Each call address was geocoded and entered into the ESRI/ArcGIS Online geospatial analysis software. Call addresses were then clustered into hexagonal grids with a distance band of 1 km for hotspot analysis. Statistically significant hotspots were qualitatively defined as clustered grids with high activity and quantitatively defined as having a Gi Bin score > 2, which correlates to statistical confidence > 95%. The hotspots were then overlaid upon an ESRI/ArcGIS pre-loaded historical map of redlined communities in Columbus, Ohio.
Results: We received 7442 calls during our study period. Of these calls, 738 were accurately diagnosed as a stroke. Our hotspot analysis identified 9 hexagonal grids as statistical hot spots. Disadvantaged communities in the historical redlined map are depicted as red or yellow (Figure). Seven of the nine hotspots abut or overlap with these communities (Figure).
Conclusions: Geographic analysis of MSU data shows that redlined communities persistently remain active areas of stroke prevalence. Geospatial analysis can be used to leverage MSU deployment for these high risk communities.