Stroke Statistics

• Stroke is the third largest cause of death behind heart disease and cancer.

• Stroke is the leading cause of serious, long-term disability in the United States.

• An estimated 795,000 people suffer from a new or recurrent stroke each year. About 610,000 of these are first attacks and 185,000 are recurrent attacks.

• Approximately 143,500 deaths were due to stroke in 2005 in the United States.

• Someone in the United States suffers a stroke roughly every 40 seconds; every 3-4 minutes an American dies from stroke.

• Among persons ages 45–64, 8 to 12 percent of ischemic strokes and 37 to 38 percent of hemorrhagic strokes result in death within 30 days, according to the ARIC study of the NHLBI. (Stroke. 1999;30:736–743.)

• The age-adjusted stroke death rates (per 100,000) in 2005 were 44.7 for white males, 44.0 for white females, 70.5 for black males and 60.7 for black females.

• One in six women will die of stroke while one in 33 women will die of breast cancer.

• Women accounted for 60.6% of US stroke deaths in 2005.

• The most common risk factors for stroke are high blood pressure and increasing age. Smokers have double the risk compared with nonsmokers.

• Stroke risk doubles every decade after age 55.

• Among adults 25 to 44 years of age, blacks and American Indians/Alaska Natives, had higher risk ratios than did whites for all three stroke subtypes.

• 25% of people who have a TIA (transient ischemic attack) will die within a year.

• The total 2009 expected cost of stroke to the United States economy is approximately $68.9 billion.

For additional information, please click here to contact us.

References
American Heart Association. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics - 2009 Update. Dallas, Texas: American Heart Association; 2009. ©2009 American Heart Association

APM0302_B_3632, 2009-04