FRIDAY, July 17, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- For adults younger than 75 years, increases in the number of social determinants of health (SDOH) are associated with an increased risk for incident stroke, according to a study published online July 16 in Stroke.
Evgeniya Reshetnyak, Ph.D., from the Weill Cornell Medical College at Cornell University in New York City, and colleagues examined the individual and cumulative effects of SDOH on incident stroke in a study including 27,813 participants from the Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke study.
The researchers observed 1,470 incident stroke events during a median follow-up of 9.5 years. Seven of 10 candidate SDOH were associated with stroke: race, education, income, zip code poverty, health insurance, social isolation, and residence in one of the 10 lowest ranked states for public health infrastructure. There was a significant age interaction, which resulted in stratification at 75 years. Among individuals younger than 75 years, the risk for stroke increased with an increasing number of SDOH in fully adjusted models compared with those without any SDOH (hazard ratio for one, two, and three or more SDOH: 1.26, 1.38, and 1.51, respectively). None of the observed effects reached statistical significance among those aged 75 years and older.
"Health care professionals should consider heightening their vigilance to prevent the development of risk factors and achieve improved physiological risk factor control in persons with multiple SDOH," the authors write.
Two authors disclosed financial ties to Amgen.
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