Introduction: This Data Brief presents trends in stroke death rates among people ages 45-64, in total and by sex, for 2002 to 2022. Trends are also presented for men and women by region (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West) from 2002 to 2022. For 2022, stroke death rates are presented for men and women by race and Hispanic origin within each region.
Methods: Mortality data for 2002-2017 are from the National Center for Health Statistics' 1999-2020 Underlying Cause of Death by Bridged-Race Categories and data for 2018-2022 are from the 2018-2022 Underlying Cause of Death by Single-Race Categories. Stroke deaths are for people ages 45-64 and are identified by International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision underlying cause-of-death codes I60-I69. The four regions of the United States are: Northeast, Midwest, South, and West. The four race and Hispanic-origin groups in this report are: Asian non-Hispanic; Black non-Hispanic; White non-Hispanic, and Hispanic. These groups had at least 20 stroke deaths among men and women in all regions to compute reliable rates. Line trends were evaluated using the National Cancer Institute's Joinpoint Regression Program. Pairwise comparisons were tested using the z test statistic at p < 0.05.
Key findings: After declines between 2002 and 2012, stroke death rates for adults ages 45-64 increased 7% between 2012 (20.2 per 100,000) and 2019 (21.7) and an additional 12% through 2021 (24.4). Throughout the period, the highest stroke death rates for both men and women were in the South and the lowest were in the Northeast. In each region, differences in stroke death rates by race and Hispanic origin were seen, as Black men and women had rates that were at least twice those of all other groups.