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Advanced Neurology

PERSPECTIVE ARTICLE
Thirty years of the South London Stroke Register

1,2
1,2
1
Eva S. Emmett * , Fara Hamidi , Hatem A. Wafa 1 , Jack Coumbe ,
Abdel Douiri 1,2 , Matthew D. L. O’Connell 1 , Ajay Bhalla 1,3 ,
Iain J. Marshall 1,2 , and Charles D. A. Wolfe 1,2
1 Department of Population Health Sciences, School of Life Course and Population Sciences,
King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
2 NIHR Applied Research Collaborative South London, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust,
London, United Kingdom
3 Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Advances in stroke research and therapy)

Abstract

Since the beginning of the South London Stroke Register (SLSR) in 1995, stroke care
has undergone major transformations and the SLSR adapted alongside. Recruitment
strategies changed in line with patient pathways, and data collections were updated
to reflect clinical practice and provide clinicians and policymakers with the most
impactful data. Our Stroke Research Patient and Family group was pivotal to define
the most relevant care and outcome measures for stroke survivors. The SLSR has
published numerous studies on epidemiological trends and the implementation of
care interventions. By providing real-world data, the SLSR has contributed to shaping
local and national stroke policies, such as the UK’s National Audit Office reports
*Corresponding author:
Eva S. Emmett 2005 and 2010, the reconfiguration of London’s stroke services and national stroke
(eva.s.emmett@kcl.ac.uk) guidelines. Linking SLSR data with routinely collected health data might further
Citation: Emmett ES, Hamidi F, address many unanswered questions around stroke as a long-term chronic condition
Wafa HA, et al. Thirty years of the in ageing populations.
South London Stroke Register. Adv
Neurol. 2025;4(1):72-79.
doi: 10.36922/an.4771 Keywords: Stroke; Epidemiology; Cohort study; Population-based register
Received: September 5, 2024
Revised: November 14, 2024
Accepted: November 25, 2024 1. Introduction
Published Online: December 12, Population-based registers, such as the South London Stroke Register (SLSR), are
2024
designed to estimate the epidemiology of stroke and to evaluate the implementation of
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). evidence-based care in real-world settings. While routinely collected health data are
1
This is an Open-Access article now widely available, population-based registers hold advantages, such as near-complete
distributed under the terms of the
2
Creative Commons Attribution case ascertainment based on multiple overlapping sources of notification, rather than,
License, permitting distribution, for example, relying solely on hospital admissions, and a level of relevant detail and
and reproduction in any medium, consistent, disease-specific outcome data not contained in routine care records.
provided the original work is
properly cited. The SLSR was established in 1995 recording all first-ever strokes in inner-city London
Publisher’s Note: AccScience and more than 8600 participants have since been recruited. The register has provided data
Publishing remains neutral with for over 400 peer-reviewed research papers, demonstrating improvements, shortcomings
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional and inequalities in stroke care and outcomes. Data from the SLSR underpinned national
affiliations. reports, stroke strategies and clinical guidelines.

Volume 4 Issue 1 (2025) 72 doi: 10.36922/an.4771