JAMA Netw Open

Perceived interpersonal racism increases risk of stroke among Black women

November 15, 2023

In this study, Black women who reported experiences of interpersonal racism in situations involving employment, housing, and interactions with police had an increased risk of stroke, even after accounting for demographic and vascular risk factors. These findings suggest that the high burden of racism experienced by Black women in the U.S. may contribute to racial disparities in stroke incidence.

• 48,375 Black women (mean age, 41 years), who were free of cardiovascular disease and cancer, filled out a questionnaire and reported experiences of racism in everyday life and when dealing with situations that involved employment, housing, and interactions with police.
• During 22 years of follow-up, 1,664 incident stroke cases were identified; among them, 550 were definite cases confirmed by neurologist review and/or National Death Index linkage.
• Multivariable hazard ratios (HRs) for reported experiences of racism in all three domains of employment, housing, and interactions with police vs. no such experiences were 1.38 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.14-1.67) for all incident cases and 1.37 (95% CI, 1.00-1.88) for definite cases.
• For comparisons of women in the highest quartile of everyday interpersonal racism score vs. women in the lowest quartile, multivariable HRs were 1.14 (95% CI, 0.97-1.35) for analyses that included all incident stroke and 1.09 (95% CI, 0.83-1.45) for analyses that included definite cases only.

Source:

Sheehy S, et al. (2023, November 1). JAMA Netw Open. Perceived Interpersonal Racism and Incident Stroke Among US Black Women. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37948073/