Young Black and Latino People May Fare Better Than Whites After Hemorrhagic Stroke

Young black and Latino people may be less likely than young white people to be disabled or even die within 3 months of a hemorrhagic stroke. This is reported in a clinical study published in Neurology, which focused on younger people who have had hemorrhagic stroke.

Of whites in the study, 52% were in the poor outcome group compared with 35% of blacks 31% of Latinos. 
When compared to whites, the black individuals had a 58% lower risk of a poor outcome, and Latino people had a 66% lower risk. The results remained significant after adjusting for age, sex, blood pressure, and the location and volume of the stroke.
The study involved 418 people, age 43 or less, who had a hemorrhagic stroke. Of the group, 173 (41%) were black, 197 (47%) were Latino, and 48 (12%) were white. 

The investigators reviewed brain scans that showed the size of the brain bleed in each person. They evaluated each person’s level of disability 3 months after their stroke. Each was assigned a score ranging from 0 to 6 based on their level of disability. 
“Our study found that even when you account for factors that affect outcomes, such as how big the stroke is, race and ethnicity were still independent predictors of how well people would recover,” said Daniel Woo, MD, MSc, professor of Neurology and vice chair of Research, Department of Neurology; associate director, University of Cincinnati Neuroscience Research. 

“Therefore, these findings may indicate that the differences in outcome between black people, Latino people, and white people may be driven more by biological, social, and treatment factors related to the risk of bleeding stroke, rather than by differences in early management after admission to the hospital.”

Participants were divided into 2 groups. People in the first group had a score of 0 with no symptoms to 3 with moderate disability but able to walk without assistance. People in the second group—the poor outcome group—had a score of 4 with more severe disability and unable to walk without assistance to 6 who had deceased.