Black Americans are more at risk from strokes

May 20 2005

According to two studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), African Americans in the U.S. continue to be disproportionately affected by stroke.

The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a publication of the CDC, shows that not only are blacks more likely to experience a stroke than whites, they are also more likely to die from them, and also confirms that people living in the Southeast U.S. are at increased risk for stroke compared with people living in other regions.

Dr. Donna Stroup, director of the CDC's Coordinating Center for Health Promotion, says the studies are sobering reminders that it is crucial that everything is done to educate people about the steps they can take to reduce their risk of strokes. As it is presently National Stroke Awareness Month, the studies are particularly relevant.

CDC investigators, in the first study, analysed national and state mortality data from 2002, to assess disparities in stroke-related deaths among people younger than 75 years, and found that, based on death rates for stroke in whites, about 3400 excess stroke deaths occurred among African Americans before age 65. Arkansas had the highest age-adjusted stroke death rate while New York had the lowest.

In the second study, the investigators looked at regional and racial differences in stroke rates in 23 states and Washington, DC, the states were classified as either being Southeast or non-Southeast. The prevalence of stroke was higher in the Southeast states, and in terms of racial groups, stroke rates ranged from 3.4 percent for blacks living in the South-eastern region to 1.8 percent for whites living in non-South-eastern regions.

Further analysis suggested that the higher stroke rate seen in the Southeast states related to differences in demographics, insurance status, education, and traditional stroke risk factors.

Dr. Stroup says it is critical that stroke prevention efforts reach African Americans and people living in the South-eastern U.S., and improved access to healthcare and creative ways of raising public awareness of the early signs of stroke, particularly among those most at risk, need to be employed.