Office of Minority Health

• 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.

Diagnosed Cases of Stroke:

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

Death Rate:

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]

Risk Factors:

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