Regional and racial differences in prevalence of stroke--23 states and District of Columbia, 2003.

Higher stroke mortality in the United States has long been evidenced among blacks and residents of southeastern states. A greater proportion of blacks live in the southeastern states that make up the so-called stroke belt than elsewhere in the country; however, variations in socioeconomic characteristics and risk factors have also been associated with disparities in stroke, and these variations have been associated with region and race. To more closely examine these associations, CDC analyzed data from the 2003 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey. This report describes the results of that analysis, which indicated that although the prevalence of stroke was higher in 10 southeastern states than in 13 other states and the District of Columbia (DC) and higher among blacks than among whites, differences in education level and certain risk factors (i.e., having diabetes or high blood pressure, smoking, and not having health-care coverage) might account for most of the differences in stroke prevalence by region and race. These findings reinforce the importance of primary and secondary prevention of known risk factors for stroke.