Racial disparities in severity of cerebrovascular events.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE This study was conducted to determine if blacks hospitalized for cerebrovascular events had more severe cerebrovascular events than whites similarly hospitalized. METHODS Data from the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission were used to determine incidence of coma, death rates, age at death of those who died, and length of stay for acute hemorrhagic and occlusive stroke in hospitalized blacks and whites after adjusting for sex and, if appropriate, age. RESULTS With a single exception (number of patients with hemorrhagic stroke who died during short-term hospitalization), all indices indicated that blacks incurred more severe cerebrovascular events than whites (P < .05 or less). CONCLUSIONS Maryland state data from hospitalized patients indicate that blacks had more severe strokes than whites.