Costs and Benefits of the Melbourne Mobile Stroke Unit Compared with Standard Ambulance: Causal Analysis Using Observational Linked Data

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Evidence of the cost implications and health outcomes associated with the use of mobile stroke units (MSU) is required to support their utilization. We aimed to evaluate the causal effect of the use of an MSU compared with a standard ambulance on hospitalization costs and 90- to 180-day health outcomes. METHODS: Causal effect estimation was performed using patient-level data from a cohort of patients with stroke in 2018 identified from the Australian Stroke Clinical Registry (Victoria) and Melbourne MSU. These data were linked to Ambulance Victoria and government-held administrative data sets. In total, linked data from 8657 patients were available. Propensity score matching was ..