A decade of racial and ethnic stroke disparities in the United States

Neurology: March 25, 2014

Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death and the leading cause of long-term disability in the United States. Stroke incidence and prevalence is not uniform. It occurs more frequently in some geographical areas of the United States and the rates are higher in minority groups.^1,2 Some proposed causes for these disparities include increased rate of vascular risk factors that disproportionally affect some minority groups, differential effect of hypertension on stroke risk across racial groups, lack of access to health care and other social determinants of health, suboptimal control of risk factors, and although lacking substantive data to date, an inherited predisposition to stroke associated with genetic differences. Read more