Racial disparities in early mortality in 1,134 young patients with acute stroke

We sought to investigate potential racial disparities in early outcomes of young individuals with stroke in an international multicenter study. We evaluated consecutive patients with first-ever acute stroke aged 18-45 years from prospective databases involving 12 tertiary-care stroke centers in North America (n = 2), Europe (n = 6), and Asia (n = 4). Demographics, vascular risk factors, stroke subtypes, pre-stroke functional status, stroke severity, blood pressure parameters, and serum glucose at hospital admission were documented. The outcome events of interest were 30-day mortality and 30-day favorable functional outcome (FFO) defined as modified-Rankin Scale score of 0-1. A total of 1,134 young adults (mean age 37.4 ± 7.0 years; 58.8 % men; 48.6 % Whites, 23.9 % Blacks, and 27.5 % Asians; median baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score 6 points, interquartile range 2-13) were included in the analyses. The 30-day stroke mortality and FFO rates differed (p < 0.001) across races. After adjusting for potential confounders, race was independently associated with 30-day mortality (p = 0.026) and 30-day FFO (p = 0.035). Blacks had a fourfold higher odds of 30-day stroke mortality in comparison to Asians (OR 4.00; 95 % CI 1.38-11.59; p = 0.011). Whites also had an increased likelihood of 30-day stroke mortality in comparison to Asians (OR 3.59; 95 % CI 1.28-10.03; p = 0.015). Blacks had a lower odds of 30-day FFO in comparison to Whites (OR 0.57; 95 % CI 0.35-0.91; p = 0.018). Racial disparities in early outcomes following first-ever stroke in young individuals appear to be independent of other known outcome predictor variables. Whites appear to have higher likelihood of 30-day FFO and Asians have lower odds of 30-day stroke mortality.