Using Qualitative Analysis to Explore the Themes of Follow-Up Calls to Discharged Stroke Patients

Introduction: Few studies have explored unscripted conversations with stroke survivors during the post-discharge period to determine areas of need and concern. Additional contact during the transition period may provide a better understanding of patient needs once home. Methods: Discharge Educational Strategies for Reduction of Vascular Events (DESERVE) was an RCT of a skills-based educational intervention among mild stroke/TIA patients, which included follow-up calls from a research coordinator at 72 hours, 1 month and 3 months post discharge. Follow-up forms (N=651, 242 patients) were reviewed and a codebook, consisting of 30 unique codes, was created to capture conversational themes. Two coders independently conducted systematic-content-analysis on the textual data. Discrepancies were examined and adjudicated by a third coder. Frequencies were calculated to determine the most prevalent conversational themes. Associations between themes and patient demographics were then assessed using chi-square tests....