Stroke Risk Drops in Both Black and White Older Adults

A study published in Medical Care found both black and white Medicare beneficiaries have experienced reductions in stroke-related hospitalization and death, reports ScienceDaily . More black beneficiaries are enjoying fewer deaths following initial stroke, although the University of California, San Francisco's Margaret Fang cautions "black men and women continue to be at higher risk for stroke than white counterparts." The researchers analyzed Medicare data from 1988 to 2013 to characterize trends in hospitalization and mortality after an initial stroke in black or white men and women 65 or older. More than 1 million hospitalizations for ischemic stroke and nearly 150,000 hospitalizations for hemorrhagic stroke were included. Over 25 years, hospitalizations for stroke declined for both black and white beneficiaries. Adjusted for age, ischemic stroke risk fell from 1,185 to 551 per 100,000 Medicare beneficiaries among black men, and from 932 to 407 per 100,000 among white men. Risk decreased from 1,222 to 641 per 100,000 for black women, and from 892 to 466 per 100,000 for white women. Death following ischemic stroke also slipped, with greater reductions among black beneficiaries. Finally, mortality dropped from about 14 percent to 9 percent in black women versus 16 percent to 15 percent in white women.