Sunday, Sep 26 - Expo Hall Opening
Sunday, Sep 26 - Job Fair
Monday,
Sep 27 - AWHONN's Block Party
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Title: Increased Prevalence of Stroke Risk Factors Among Middle Aged and Minority Women
Discipline: Women’s Health (WH), Professional Issues (PI), Childbearing (CB), Advanced Practice (AP)
Learning Objectives:
Submission Description:- Identify stroke risk factors in women that are modifiable.
- Describe ethnic differences in stroke risk factors among middle aged women.
- Discuss strategies to lower stroke risk.
Background: Stroke remains the leading cause of disability and the third leading cause of death among women in the United States today. Purpose of this study is to identify the prevalence of modifiable vascular disease risk factors in women of different age groups and ethnicities. Recent research has demonstrated that women aged 45 to 54 years old have twice the chance of suffering a stroke as compared to men of the same age. The steepest increase in stroke prevalence occurs when women transition from the 35 to 44 year old age range to the 45 to 54 year old age range. The increased prevalence of traditional vascular risk factors, which cluster around menopause, may account for this increased stroke risk. Minority women are more prone to exhibit many of these risk factors and have a higher stroke prevalence and mortality rate.
Methodology: A total of 943 women were evaluated for the presence of modifiable vascular risk factors during a comprehensive stroke/cardiovascular evaluation. They were then risk stratified by ethnicity and age. The age groups evaluated: < 34 years, 35 to 44 years, 45 to 54 years, 55 to 64 years, > 65 years.
Results: A statistically significant increase was observed with increasing age across the groups in rates of dyslipidemia, diabetes, and waist circumference, while there was a significant decrease in the incidence of smoking (all p values < 0.001). Between the 35 to 44 and 45 to 54 year age groups there were significant increases in the incidence of HTN (p<0.05), waist circumference (p=0.02) and stroke risk scores (p <0.001). When stratifying these age grouped women by ethnicity the African American women demonstrated a significant increase in the incidence of HTN, metabolic syndrome, and waist circumference with age. Hispanic women only demonstrated a significant increase in HTN (p<0.001) with increased age, while Caucasian women did not experience any significant changes. The African American (p=0.004) and Caucasian (p=0.04) women demonstrated a statistically significant increase in stroke risk scores with increasing age while no significant difference was appreciated among the Hispanic women.
Implications: The data suggests that middle-aged women exhibit a progressive escalation of modifiable risk factors. These risk factors seem to be more prevalent among minority women but further research is needed. Nurse practitioners need to increase awareness especially among young, premenopausal women in an effort to prevent the onset of risk factors later in life and empower women to modify existing risk factors.
Methodology: A total of 943 women were evaluated for the presence of modifiable vascular risk factors during a comprehensive stroke/cardiovascular evaluation. They were then risk stratified by ethnicity and age. The age groups evaluated: < 34 years, 35 to 44 years, 45 to 54 years, 55 to 64 years, > 65 years.
Results: A statistically significant increase was observed with increasing age across the groups in rates of dyslipidemia, diabetes, and waist circumference, while there was a significant decrease in the incidence of smoking (all p values < 0.001). Between the 35 to 44 and 45 to 54 year age groups there were significant increases in the incidence of HTN (p<0.05), waist circumference (p=0.02) and stroke risk scores (p <0.001). When stratifying these age grouped women by ethnicity the African American women demonstrated a significant increase in the incidence of HTN, metabolic syndrome, and waist circumference with age. Hispanic women only demonstrated a significant increase in HTN (p<0.001) with increased age, while Caucasian women did not experience any significant changes. The African American (p=0.004) and Caucasian (p=0.04) women demonstrated a statistically significant increase in stroke risk scores with increasing age while no significant difference was appreciated among the Hispanic women.
Implications: The data suggests that middle-aged women exhibit a progressive escalation of modifiable risk factors. These risk factors seem to be more prevalent among minority women but further research is needed. Nurse practitioners need to increase awareness especially among young, premenopausal women in an effort to prevent the onset of risk factors later in life and empower women to modify existing risk factors.
