Neighborhood Environment and Risk of Ischemic Stroke: The Brain Attack Surveillance in Corpus Christi (BASIC) Project

The authors explored whether neighborhood-level characteristics are associated with ischemic stroke and whether the association differs by ethnicity, age, and gender. Using data from the Brain Attack Surveillance in Corpus Christi Project ( January 2000-June 2003), they identified cases of ischemic stroke (n = 1,247) from both hospital and out-of-hospital sources. Census tracts served as proxies for neighborhoods, and neighborhood socioeconomic status scores were constructed from census variables ( higher scores represented less disadvantage). In Poisson regression analyses comparing the 90th percentile of neighborhood score with the 10th, the relative risk of stroke was 0.49 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.41, 0.58). After adjustment for age, gender, and ethnicity, this association was attenuated ( relative risk (RR) = 0.79, 95% CI: 0.63, 1.00). There was no ethnic difference in the association of score with stroke ( p for interaction = 0.79). Significant effect modi. cation was found for age ( p for interaction < 0.001) and gender ( p for interaction = 0.04), with increasing scores being protective against stroke in men and younger persons. Associations were attenuated after adjustment for education ( men: RR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.55, 1.07; persons aged < 65 years: RR = 0.65, 95% CI: 0.41, 1.02). Neighborhood characteristics may influence stroke risk in certain gender and age groups. Mechanisms for these associations should be examined.