A new study found that Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders have the greatest risk of a common stroke that can cause brain damage or even death.
Ischemic stroke is the most prevalent form of stroke, occurring from the obstruction of blood flow to parts of the brain and often leading to neurological deficits, long-term disability, or mortality.
There has been research regarding racial disparities in stroke risk, but very few studies have looked specifically into the rate of stroke incidents for Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander communities.
Scienmag reports that the study was published on science journal “Neurology” and spearheaded by Dr. Fadar O. Otite. The study analyzed hospital data from the last six years in the states of Florida, Georgia, Maryland, and New York.
According to Medical Press, Dr. Otite said, “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.”
During the study, there were 799,150 cases of stroke, and when combined with census data, the study revealed that the rate of stroke for Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander people was 591 cases per 100,000 people, while for Black people the rate was 292 cases, white people 180 cases, Hispanic people 145 cases, and Asian people 108 cases.
Researchers adjusted for length of hospitalization to consider medical advances in stroke care, but still found that stroke rate was 3.3 times higher for Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander people than white people, nearly four times higher than Hispanic people and over five times higher than among Asian people.
Scienmag notes that the study also revealed a geographical distinction: Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders had a lower ischemic stroke rate than Black people in Florida, yet higher stroke rates in Georgia, Maryland, and New York. This demonstrates that there either exist disparities in access to healthcare or region-specific health determinants.
The authors emphasize the need for more research into the causes for this health disparity, as it may stem from cardiovascular risk factors or social determinants.
According to Medical Press, one limitation of this study was that since they relied heavily on hospitalization records, they did not include any individuals who were not taken to the hospital when a stroke occurred.
Otite further discussed the implications of the study: “These findings also lend support to the need for parsing out information on race and ethnicity in health care databases, where Asian people and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander people are usually combined into one large group.”
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