Stroke Incidence Decreasing Among US Adults

Incidence of stroke and mortality rates among adults is decreasing in U.S. communities, according to a prospective study.

The study monitored 14,357 black and white participants (age 45 to 65 years) free of stroke at baseline from 1987 to 2011.
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Researchers collected baseline information on cardiovascular risk factors via phone interviews and physical examination.

The investigators followed-up with further phone interviews, examinations, surveillance of hospital discharges, and linkage to the national death index until 2011. All possible strokes were adjusted and classified as definite or probable ischemic, or hemorrhagic, events. During the study, 7% of individuals had a stroke.

The study found a reduction in patients 65 years and older: for every 10-year period, incident stroke decreased (0.76). There was also a decrease in age-adjusted mortality following a stroke for every-10 year interval (0.80).

The decreases were similar across sex and race, but varied across age groups according to researchers.

Researchers noted that the decrease appears to be a result of increased intake of cholesterol medications, increased use of hypertension medications, and smoking cessation.

The complete study is published in the July issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

-Michelle Canales

References:

Koton S, Schneider AL, Rosamond WD, et al. Stroke incidence and mortality trends in US Communities, 1987 to 2011. JAMA. 2014 July [epub ahead of print] doi: 10.1001/jama.2014.7692.

Sacco RL, Dong C. Declining stroke incidence and improving survival in US communities. JAMA. 2014 July [epub ahead of print] doi:10.1001/jama.2014.7693.