# Status on stroke and stroke care in Europe 2023: Stroke Service Tracker 2023 data based on 1,460,360 strokes in 47 European nations **Authors:** Hanne Christensen, Francesca Romana Pezzella, Melinda Berg Roaldsen, Ales Tomek, Christian Ovesen, Arlene Wilkie, Hrvoje Budincevic, Martin Dichgans, Urs Fischer, Josefine Grundtvig, Peter Kelly, Grethe Lunde, Chris Macey, Robert Mikulik, Amira Rosenørn, Gustavo Santo, Diana Aguiar de Sousa, Cristina Tiu, Simona Sacco, Aleksandras Vilionskis, Bo Norrving, Mentor Petrela, Mentor Petrela, Marine 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 Klinke, Thorir Steingrímsson, Björn Thorarinsson, Rónan Collins, Ciara Breen, Rani Barnea, Natan Bornstein, Pnina Rosenzweig, Massimo Del Sette, Fabrizio Pennaccehi, Danilo Toni, Paola Santalucia, Paolo Candelaresi, Ettore Nicolini, Zauresh Akhmetzhanova, Sabina Medukhanova, Adilbekov Yerzhan, Dren Boshnjaku, Fisnik Jashari, Kunduz Karbozova, Asel Kerimkulova, Dzhamalbek Turgumbaev, Guntis Karelis, Evija Miglane, Dalius Jatuzis, Aleksandras Vilionski, Maria Mallia, Maria Bonello, Natalia Ciobanu, Stanislav Groppa, Daniela Efremov, Milovan Roganovic, Sandra Vujovic, Heleen den Hertog, Bert Vrijhoef, Anita Arsovska, Maja Bozinovska Smicheska, Gordana Dimeska, Elena Lichkova, Fiona Quigg, Malcolm Wiggam, Annette Fromm, Agnethe Eltoft, Michal Karlinski, Adam Kobayashi, Diana Aguiar de Sousa, Elsa Azevedo, Ana Catarina Fonseca, Ana Nunes, Gustavo Santo, Diana Wong Ramos, Elena Terecoasa, Cristina Tiu, Mary Joan MacLeod, Pamela Maclean, Matthew Lambert, Ivan Milojevic, Željko Živanović, Nikola Vukašinović, Zuzana Gdovinova, Vladimir Nosal, Peter Turčáni, Bojana Zvan, Maria del Mar Freijo, Elena Lopez-Cancio, Mia von Euler, Signild Åsberg, Timo Kahles, Krassen Nedeltchev, Attila Özcan Özdemir, Mehmet Topcuoglu, Yuriy Flomin, Marina Gulyayeva, Dmytro Lebedynets, Christine Owen PMC · DOI: 10.1093/esj/aakag008 · European Stroke Journal · 2026-02-19 ## TL;DR This report shows stroke care in Europe remains unequal, with economic factors and national plans affecting care quality. ## Contribution The study provides 2023 data on stroke care across 47 European nations and identifies factors linked to better stroke care outcomes. ## Key findings - Significant inequity in stroke care was observed across Europe in 2023. - Nations with national stroke plans or quality programs met more SAP-E KPIs. - GDP and healthcare spending per capita were strongly correlated with meeting KPIs. ## Abstract 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. 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. 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. 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. Graphical Abstract ## Linked entities - **Diseases:** stroke (MONDO:0005098) ## Full-text entities - **Genes:** SH2D1A (SH2 domain containing 1A) [NCBI Gene 4068] {aka DSHP, EBVS, IMD5, LYP, MTCP1, SAP} - **Diseases:** SST (MESH:D020521), haemorrhagic (MESH:D006470), Mortality (MESH:D003643), haemorrhagic stroke (MESH:D002543), ischaemic (MESH:D018917), ischaemic stroke (MESH:D002544) - **Species:** Homo sapiens (human, species) [taxon 9606] ## Full text _Full body text omitted from this summary view._ Fetch the complete paper as Markdown: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12919429/full.md ## Figures 5 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12919429/full.md ## References 19 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12919429/full.md --- Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12919429