title: Stroke mortality rates vary in local communities in a metropolitan area: racial and spatial disparities and correlates.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  For the past decade, stroke has held steady as one of the top 4 leading causes of death in the United States. Aggregated data provide information about how the country or individual states are faring with respect to stroke mortality, but disaggregation provides data that may facilitate targeted interventions and community engagement.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed deaths from stroke to residents of Chicago to calculate age-adjusted stroke mortality rates (AASMRs). We calculated AASMRs for Chicago by race/ethnicity, sex, and community area. We also examined the correlation between AASMR and (1) racial/ethnic composition of a community area and (2) median household income.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The AASMR for Chicago (44.9 per 100,000 population) was significantly higher than the national rate (42.2). Within both the United States and Chicago, the highest AASMRs were found among non-Hispanic blacks, followed by non-Hispanic whites, and then Hispanics. There was a strong, positive correlation between the proportion of black residents in a community area and the AASMR (0.58). There was a strong, negative relationship between household income and the AASMR for the entire city (-0.56) and for the predominantly black community areas (-0.47).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data provide insight into where the worst stroke mortality problems reside in Chicago. We anticipate that the data can be used to work toward the development of solutions to the high stroke mortality rates observed in several of Chicago's community areas and in similar communities throughout the United States.
authors.affiliation: From the Sinai Urban Health Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Sinai Health System, Chicago, IL (B.R.H., S.W.); and Rosalind Franklin University, Chicago Medical School, North Chicago, IL (D.D.). bijou.hunt@sinai.org.
authors.forename: Bijou R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Hunt
authors.affiliation: From the Sinai Urban Health Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Sinai Health System, Chicago, IL (B.R.H., S.W.); and Rosalind Franklin University, Chicago Medical School, North Chicago, IL (D.D.).
authors.forename: Deepa
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Deot
authors.affiliation: From the Sinai Urban Health Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Sinai Health System, Chicago, IL (B.R.H., S.W.); and Rosalind Franklin University, Chicago Medical School, North Chicago, IL (D.D.).
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Whitman
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D002641:Chicago / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D012042:Registries; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology / Q000401:mortality*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology
keywords: health status disparities; minority health; mortality; stroke