FLINT, MI -- Black people are less likely to get the immediate treatment needed for strokes because of a reluctance to call 911.
Concerns over cost of medical treatment and whether or not emergency personnel would respond cause too many to ignore stroke systems -- and cause African-American patients to miss out on a clot busting drug that can lessen the effect of the stroke, according to a new study from the University of Michigan Health System.
Sarah Bailey, a former social worker and minister with New Jerusalem Full Gospel Church in Flint, helped spearhead the study after seeing the difference in what treatment can mean after seeing both her mother and her pastor suffer a stroke.
"We have to begin to change our behavior patterns," Bailey said. "If you don't know anything, you won't change anything.We know it starts with education."
Bailey joined forces with Dr. Lesli Skolarus, a neurologist at the University of Michigan Health System, to author the recently published study. Theysurveyed77 black Flint residents -- young and old -- who said there were barriers in obtaining help for a stroke.
The study was conducted from 2011 to 2012, and the pair are currently working to put together informational sessions for the community to address why it's important to call for help immediately when stroke symptoms appear.
The research was led by Skolarus, who earlier discovered during her clinical experience there were a large number of missed opportunities for her patients to obtain a clot-busting drug called tissue plasminogen activator -- which can prevent the loss of body movement.
This study with Bailey helps explain why there are so many missed opportunities.
Bailey met Skolarus in 2009 when the doctor presented a synopsis of her initial findings involving missed opportunities at a forum with University of Michigan researchers.
"At that time, I pursued a conversation with her and we began to talk and put together this whole stroke investigation," Bailey said.
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Reluctance to call 911 delays critical stroke treatment for blacks, University of Michigan study finds in Flint