Stroke and African Americans

Stroke

African Americans are 50 percent more likely to have a stroke (cerebrovascular disease), as compared to their white adult counterparts.
Black men are 70 percent more likely to die from a stroke as compared to non-Hispanic whites.
African American women are twice as likely to have a stroke as compared to non-Hispanic white women.

Age-adjusted percentage of stroke among persons 18 years of age and over, 2018
	Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Men	3.2	3.1	1.0
Women	4.6	2.3	2.0
Total	4.0	2.7	1.5

Source: CDC 2021. Summary Health Statistics: National Health Interview Survey: 2018. Table A-1a.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/shs/tables.htm

Age-adjusted stroke death rates per 100,000 (2018)
	Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
Men	59.0	35.7	1.7
Women	48.0	35.6	1.3
Total	53.0	36.0	1.7

Source: CDC 2021. National Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 69, No. 13. Table 10.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr69/nvsr69-13-508.pdf [PDF | 2.05MB]

There are several risk factors related to stroke. Some of these risk factors are:

Obesity and Overweight – See Obesity and African Americans

Hypertension – See Heart Disease and African Americans

High Cholesterol – See Heart Disease and African Americans

Cigarette Smoking – See Heart Disease and African Americans

Last Modified: 2/11/2021 11:35:00 AM

Office of Minority Health