• Feng Qian, Gregg C Fonarow, Eric E Smith, Ying Xian, Wenqin Pan, Edward L Hannan, Benjamin A Shaw, Laurent G Glance, Eric D Peterson, Zubin J Eapen, Adrian F Hernandez, Lee H Schwamm, and Deepak L Bhatt.
• Department of Health Policy, Management & Behavior, School of Public Health,University at Albany-State University of New York, Albany, NY 12144, USA. fqian@albany.edu.
• Circ Cardiovasc Qual. 2013 May 1;6(3):284-92.

BackgroundLittle is known as to whether long-term outcomes of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) vary by race/ethnicity. Using the American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines-Stroke registry linked with Medicare claims data set, we examined whether 30-day and 1-year outcomes differed by race/ethnicity among older patients with AIS.Methods And ResultsWe analyzed 200 900 patients with AIS >65 years of age (170 694 non-Hispanic whites, 85.0%; 20 514 non-Hispanic blacks, 10.2%; 6632 Hispanics, 3.3%; 3060 non-Hispanic Asian Americans, 1.5%) from 926 US centers participating in the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke program from April 2003 through December 2008. Compared with whites, other racial and ethnic groups were on average younger and had a higher median score on the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale. Whites had higher 30-day unadjusted mortality than other groups (white versus black versus Hispanic versus Asian=15.0% versus 9.9% versus 11.9% versus 11.1%, respectively). Whites also had higher 1-year unadjusted mortality (31.7% versus 28.6% versus 28.1% versus 23.9%, respectively) but lower 1-year unadjusted all-cause rehospitalization (54.7% versus 62.5% versus 60.0% versus 48.6%, respectively). After risk adjustment, Asian American patients with AIS had lower 30-day and 1-year mortality than white, black, and Hispanic patients. Relative to whites, black and Hispanic patients had higher adjusted 1-year all-cause rehospitalization (black: adjusted odds ratio, 1.28 [95% confidence interval, 1.21-1.37]; Hispanic: adjusted odds ratio, 1.22 [95% confidence interval, 1.11-1.35]), whereas Asian patients had lower odds (adjusted odds ratio, 0.83 [95% confidence interval, 0.74-0.94]).ConclusionsAmong older Medicare beneficiaries with AIS, there were significant differences in long-term outcomes by race/ethnicity, even after adjustment for stroke severity, other prognostic variables, and hospital characteristics.

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