Published Online
on June 16, 2005

A more recent version of this article appeared on July 1, 2005

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Submitted on January 4, 2005
Revised on February 21, 2005
Accepted on April 21, 2005

Racial Disparities in Stroke Risk Factors. The Impact of Socioeconomic Status

Dawn M. Bravata MD^*; Carolyn K. Wells MPH; Barbara Gulanski MD; Walter N. Kernan MD; Lawrence M. Brass MD; Judith Long MD; and John Concato MD

From the Clinical Epidemiology Research Center (CERC; D.M.B., C.K.W., J.C.), Internal Medicine Service (D.M.B., B.G., J.C.), Neurology Service (L.M.B.), Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, Conn; the Department of Internal Medicine (D.M.B., C.K.W., B.G., W.N.K., J.C.) and Department of Neurology (L.M.B.), Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn; the Department of Internal Medicine (J.L.), Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pa.

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: Dawn.Bravata{at}yale.edu.

Background and Purpose--In the US, blacks have a higher incidence of stroke and more severe strokes than whites. Our objective was to determine if differences in income, education, and insurance, as well as differences in the prevalence of stroke risk factors, accounted for the association between ethnicity and stroke.

Methods--We used data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES III), a cross-sectional sample of the noninstitutionalized US population (1988-1994), and included blacks and whites aged 40 years or older with a self-reported stroke history. Income was assessed using a ratio of income to US Census Bureau annual poverty threshold.

Results--Among 11 163 participants, 2752 (25%) were black and 619 (6%) had a stroke history (blacks: 160/2752 [6%]; whites: 459/8411 [6%]; P=0.48). Blacks had a higher prevalence of 5 risk factors independently associated with stroke: hypertension, treated diabetes, claudication, higher C-reactive protein, and inactivity; whites had a higher prevalence of 3 risk factors: older age, myocardial infarction, and lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Ethnicity was independently associated with stroke after adjusting for the 8 risk factors (adjusted odds ratio, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.04 to 1.67). Ethnicity was not independently associated with stroke after adjustment for income and income was independently associated with stroke (adjusted odds ratios for: ethnicity, 1.15; 95% CI, 0.88 to 1.49; income, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.82 to 0.95). Adjustment for neither education nor insurance altered the ethnicity-stroke association.

Conclusions--In this study of community-dwelling stroke survivors, ethnic differences exist in the prevalence of stroke risk factors and income may explain the association between ethnicity and stroke.

Key words: ischemia • risk factors • social class

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