Hanne Christensen, Francesca Romana Pezzella, Melinda Berg Roaldsen, Aleš Tomek, Christian Ovesen, Arlene Wilkie, Hrvoje Budincevic, M Dichgans, U. Fischer, Josefine Grundtvig, P A Kelly, Grethe Lunde, Chris Macey, R Mikulik, Amira Eliza Rosenørn, Gustavo António Pereira R Cordeiro Santo, Diana Aguiar de Sousa, Tiu C, Simona Sacco, Aleksandras Vilionskis, Prof Bo Norrving, SAP-E collaborators, Mentor Petrela, M. G. Balasanyan, Nune Yeghiazaryan, Stefan Kiechl, Wilfried Lang, Rahim Aliyev, Nara Hesen, Sergey Marchenko, Yaroslav Zholnerkevich, Tanya Pavlovskaya, Sylvie DeRaedt, François Delvoye, Laetitia Yperzeele, Renata Jurina, Nevena Mahmutbegović, Marija Bender, Dorina Dobreva, Dimitar Maslarov, Timitar Taskov, Pere Cardona, Esther Duarte, Hrvoje Budincevic, Ervin Jančić, Maša Ožegović, Marian Charalambous, Andreas Charidimou, Georgios Kaponides, Magdalena Pohnanová, Aleš Tomek, Dorte Damgaard, Birgitte Hysse Forchhammer, Troels Wienecke, Sarah Belson, Jatt Khaira, Joseph Kwan, Janika Kõrv, Riina Vibo, Pauli Ylikotila, Susanna Roine, Guillaume Turc, Charlotte Cordonnier, Jean Bouchard, Alexander Tsiskaridze, Nina Lobajanidze, Jürgen Faiss, Markus Wagner, Tobias Neumann-Haefelin, Christina Franzisket, Haralampos Milionis, Hariklia Proios, András Folyovich, Tamás Jarecsny, Marianne E. Klinke, Thorir Steingrímsson, Bjorn Logi Thorarinsson, Rónan Collins, Ciara Breen, Rani Barnea, Natan Bornstein, Pnina Rosenzweig, Massimo Del Sette, Fabrizio Pennaccehi, Danilo Toni, Paola Santalucia, Paolo Candelaresi, Ettore Nicolini, З Б Ахметжанова, Sabina Medukhanova, Adilbekov Yerzhan, Dren Boshnjaku, Fisnik Jashari, Kunduz Karbozova, Asel Kerimkulova, Dzhamalbek Turgumbaev, Guntis Karelis, Evija Miglane, Dalius Jatuzis, Aleksandras Vilionski
INTRODUCTION: Inequity in stroke care in Europe has previously been reported despite the existence of evidence-based cost-effective interventions for both prevention and treatment. This report aims to provide comprehensive data on stroke care in Europe in 2023 and explore associations to European regions, organisational and economic factors. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The Stroke Service Tracker, an annually collected survey-based dataset of aggregate summary data from participating European nations, was used with key performance indicators (KPIs) from the Stroke Action Plan for Europe (SAP-E). European regions were defined based on United Nations Geoscheme regions. Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and healthcare spending per capita were collected based on World Bank data. RESULTS: A total of 1,460,630 stroke events were reported in 2023 from 52 nations. Significant inequity was present in all data points and data quality varied significantly. Twenty (43.5%) nations have a national stroke plan in place, and in 19 (41.3%) work is ongoing. Quality programmes have been implemented in 20 (43.5%) nations. Implementation of a national stroke plan or a quality programme was associated with achieving more SAP-E KPIs (P < .001). There were regional differences in the number of met KPIs (P < .001). Both GDP and healthcare spending per capita were strongly correlated to meeting KPIs. CONCLUSION: The inequity in stroke care persists in Europe. Implementation of a national stroke plan and a quality programme is associated with meeting more KPIs; however, economic factors may pose limitations. Access to high-quality data will support decision-making towards evidence-based and cost-effective care.