Characteristics of eligible patients with stroke allocated to receive care in the stroke unit or general medical wards
| Characteristics | Stroke unit | Medical wards | p Value |
| Mean age (y (SD)) | 76 (7) | 76 (7) | 0.60 |
| Female sex | 22/56 (39) | 31/65 (48) | 0.37 |
| Unconscious | 15/56 (27) | 27/65 (42) | 0.13 |
| Medical history: | |||
| TIA | 8/56 (14) | 9/65 (14) | 1.00 |
| Prior stroke | 9/56 (16) | 13/65 (20) | 0.64 |
| Myocardial infarction | 7/56 (13) | 8/65 (12) | 1.00 |
| Angina pectoris | 13/56 (23) | 8/65 (12) | 0.15 |
| Atrial fibrillation | 5/56 (9) | 6/65 (9) | 1.00 |
| Hypertension | 18/56 (32) | 17/65 (26) | 0.54 |
| Diabetes | 3/56 (5) | 6/65 (9) | 0.50 |
| Malignancy | 4/56 (7) | 4/65 (6) | 1.00 |
| Current smoker | 10/56 (18) | 13/65 (20) | 0.82 |
| Time to hospital admission: | |||
| <3 h | 14/54 (26) | 18/62 (29) | 0.44 |
| 3–6 h | 20/54 (37) | 17/62 (27) | 0.18 |
| 6–12 h | 10/54 (19) | 10/62 (15) | 0.47 |
| 12–24 h | 10/54 (19) | 17/62 (27) | 0.20 |
Data are number of patients with a given characteristic/total number of patients (%), unless otherwise stated. p Values are two tailed. TIA=Transient ischaemic attack