Increasing Disparity Found in Stroke Mortality in Europe and Central Asia

April 13th, 2011

Increasing Disparity Found in Stroke Mortality in Europe and Central Asia

Larry Husten, PHD

The difference in stroke mortality among countries in Europe and Central Asia is large and, somewhat surprisingly, is growing larger, according to a new analysis of data from the World Health Organization.

In a paper published online in the European Heart Journal, Josep Redon and colleagues examine recent 15-year trends from 39 countries. They report that, in general, western European countries, which already had very low child and adult mortality rates, had the lowest rates of stroke mortality and the greatest declines over time. By contrast, countries in Eastern Europe and central Asia, which already had higher adult and child mortality levels than western European countries, had now experienced “a further unprecedented increase” in stroke-related death.

“The striking conclusion that emerges is that stroke mortality has entered a period of rapidly increasing inequality between countries,” the authors write.

The investigators point to differences in blood pressure as the likely most important cause of the geographical variation, but other factors, including low income, other socioeconomic variables, and psychosocial and dietary factors, may also play significant roles. “If we assume that stroke mortality can serve as a proxy for average BP in a population,” they write, “the data presented here clearly demonstrate the necessity to adopt actions to increase the diagnosis, treatment and hypertension control in the countries where the burden of hypertension sequelae is still growing.”

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April 13th, 2011