Trends in hospitalized stroke for blacks and whites in the United States, 1980-1999.

Background: Racial differences in stroke mortality are widely recognized, but it is unclear whether or not these differences are due mainly to blacks having a greater stroke incidence or higher case fatality rates compared to those of whites.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe the race-specific US trends in hospital discharge rates and in-hospital mortality among stroke patients for the period 1980-1999. It was hypothesized that the hospital discharge rates and in-hospital mortality among stroke patients would be greater for blacks than for whites.

Methods: Data from the National Hospital Discharge Survey for the period 1980-1999 were used to identify stroke subjects according to the codes of the International Classification of Diseases, ninth revision (codes 430-434 and 436). Direct standardization and Poisson regression were used to compare hospitalized stroke morbidity and mortality rates between blacks and whites. The main outcome measures were the number of stroke discharges and in-hospital deaths for black and white stroke patients.

Results: Between the years 1980 and 1999, the hospital discharge rates for stroke increased for blacks (n = 8,700) and decreased for whites (n = 46,154); the in-hospital mortality rates decreased for both black and white stroke patients. Generally, the risk of a stroke hospitalization was greater for blacks than for whites by more than 70%, whereas both groups were similar in terms of in-hospital mortality rates among stroke patients.

Conclusions: Differences between blacks and whites in terms of stroke mortality are more likely due to differences in stroke incidence rather than case fatality. These data imply that greater attention should be given to primary/secondary prevention and that additional research is needed to understand the reasons for these patterns.