More Black and Latino people died within the first month after certain types of strokes compared with white people, according to a study published in Neurology.
“We’ve known that there are disparities in death from stroke among racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. due to higher stroke rates, higher burden of risk factors for stroke, socioeconomic inequality and structural racism, but we have needed more information breaking these differences down by type of stroke,” study author Hugo J. Aparicio, MD, MPH, of Boston University School of Medicine, said in a news release. “These results will help us to better understand the nature of this health inequity.”
Over a 10-year period, researchers reviewed the health records of 37,790 people hospitalized for strokes and determined how many died within a month and for more than a year post-stroke.
A total of 98% of patients were male, 89% had ischemic strokes (caused by a blood clot), 9% had intracerebral hemorrhage stroke and 2% had subarachnoid hemorrhage strokes (both types of which are caused by bleeding in the brain).
Latino people who experienced subarachnoid hemorrhage strokes experienced a 30% increased risk of dying during the first month after such a stroke, while white people experienced a 20% increased risk.
Black people who had intracerebral hemorrhage strokes experienced a 30% increased risk of dying within the first month after such a stroke, while white people experienced a 27% increased risk.
“If all types of stroke are considered together as one disease, it may mask underlying racial or ethnic disparities, since risk factors, such as age or blood pressure, and underlying social determinants of health, such as access to health care or structural racism, may vary differently between these outcomes. Given these differences in stroke mortality by race and ethnicity, it is clear that more research is also needed in Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Asian American groups,” Aparicio said.
To learn more about life after a stroke, read “Where You Live May Affect Your Post-Stroke Recovery.”
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