Stroke and Asian Americans

  • Overall, Asian American adults are about 20 percent less likely than white adults to die from a stroke(cerebrovascular disease).
  • In general, Asian American adults have lower rates of being overweight or obese, lower rates of hypertension, and they are less likely to be current cigarette smokers, all risk factors for having a stroke (cerebrovascular disease).

Diagnosed Cases of Stroke:

Age-adjusted percentage of stroke among persons 18 years of age and over, 2018
AsianNon-Hispanic WhiteAsian / Non-Hispanic White Ratio
2.72.71.0

Source: CDC 2020. Summary Health Statistics: National Health Interview Survey: 2018. Table A-1a.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/shs/tables.htm

Death Rate:

Age-adjusted stroke death rates per 100,000 (2017)
Non-Hispanic AsianNon-Hispanic WhiteNon-Hispanic Asian / Non- Hispanic White Ratio
Men32.136.00.8
Women28.736.00.8
Total30.336.40.8

Source: CDC 2019. National Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 68, No. 9. Table 10.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_09-508.pdf [PDF | 1.76MB]

Risk Factors:

There are several risk factors related to stroke. Some of these risk factors are:

Obesity and Overweight – See Obesity and Asians Americans

Hypertension – See Heart Disease and Asians and Pacific Islanders

High Cholesterol – See Heart disease and Asians and Pacific Islanders

Cigarette Smoking – See Heart disease and Asians and Pacific Islanders


Last Edited: 02/11/2021