TOPLINE:

The rate of incident acute ischemic stroke was significantly higher among Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (NHOPI) individuals than among non-Hispanic White and Black individuals across four US states, a new study showed.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers examined State Ambulatory Surgery, Emergency, and Inpatient Databases from Florida (2005-2021), Georgia (2010-2020), Maryland (2012-2021), and New York (2005-2021).
• Nearly 800,000 cases of incident acute ischemic stroke in adults (median age, 70 years; 50% women) were identified using International Classification of Diseases codes.
• The analysis included a 6-year look-back period for Florida and New York and a 3-year look-back period for Georgia and Maryland.

TAKEAWAY:

• The age- and sex-standardized average annual incidence of acute ischemic stroke was significantly higher for NHOPI individuals (591.4 per 100,000) than for non-Hispanic White (179.7 per 100,000) or non-Hispanic Black (292.2 per 100,000) individuals (all comparisons, P < .001).
• After adjusting for age, sex, and year of hospitalization, NHOPI individuals had a more than threefold higher incidence of acute ischemic stroke than non-Hispanic White (adjusted incidence rate ratio [aIRR], 3.3), Hispanic (aIRR, 3.9), and Asian (aIRR, 5.7) individuals (all comparisons, P < .001).
• The adjusted incidence gap between NHOPI and non-Hispanic White individuals was most pronounced in adults aged 80 years or older (aIRR, 4.2).

IN PRACTICE:

“Since Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander people are among the fastest growing populations in the US and have one of the highest rates of death from cardiovascular disease, we wanted to focus on the risk among this group,” the lead study author said in a press release.

“More research is needed into the reasons for this disparity so that it can be tackled appropriately,” Otite added.

SOURCE:

The study, led by Fadar O. Otite, MD, State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York, was published online on August 27 in Neurology.

LIMITATIONS:

The study may have underestimated the community incidence of acute ischemic stroke by capturing only hospitalized cases. Further, it was limited by potential coding errors, lack of data on risk factor control, poorly captured obesity and smoking, a retrospective administrative design, and limited generalizability of the findings.

DISCLOSURES:

The study received no targeted funding. Four investigators reported having editorial and reviewer roles in various journals, but not in Neurology. Full details are provided in the original article. The other 14 investigators reported having no relevant financial relationships.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.