Community Level Disadvantage and the Likelihood of First Ischemic Stroke

Background and Purpose. Residing in “disadvantaged” communities may increase morbidity and mortality independent of individual social resources and biological factors. This study evaluates the impact of population-level disadvantage on incident ischemic stroke likelihood in a multiethnic urban population. Methods. A population based case-control study was conducted in an ethnically diverse community of New York. First ischemic stroke cases and community controls were enrolled and a stroke risk assessment performed. Data regarding population level economic indicators for each census tract was assembled using geocoding. Census variables were also grouped together to define a broader measure of collective disadvantage. We evaluated the likelihood of stroke for population-level variables controlling for individual social (education, social isolation, and insurance) and vascular risk factors. Results. We age-, sex-, and race-ethnicity-matched 687 incident ischemic stroke cases to 1153 community controls. The mean age was 69 years: 60% women; 22% white, 28% black, and 50% Hispanic. After adjustment, the index of community level disadvantage (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.7–2.1) was associated with increased stroke likelihood overall and among all three race-ethnic groups. Conclusion. Social inequalities measured by census tract data including indices of community disadvantage confer a significant likelihood of ischemic stroke independent of conventional risk factors.