Stroke Survivors Living in Poverty Have Worse Recovery Outcomes

Stroke survivors living in areas with poor economic conditions are twice as likely to have poor recovery compared with survivors living in better economic situations, according to a preliminary study that will be presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2024.

“This research was inspired by the people I work with daily,” said Leah Kleinberg, BA, a postgraduate clinical research associate in the Falcone Lab in the Department of Neurology at Yale School of Medicine, via a press release. “Although stroke patients from differing socioeconomic backgrounds often have similar functional status at discharge, outcomes can vary dramatically a year later. As a clinical research associate, I get to interact with them far beyond the completion of their urgent treatment, which sparked my interest in exploring the long-term outcomes for these patients.”

In this study, researchers used data from Yale’s Longitudinal Study of Acute Brain Injury and Area Deprivation Index (ADI) to compare outcomes among stroke survivors by socioeconomic disadvantage factors. The ADI evaluates a neighborhood on level of income, education, employment, and housing quality and is specific to each zip code. It was developed by the US Health Resources and Services Administration to inform health care delivery and policy for disadvantaged areas.

This analysis found that stroke survivors living in neighborhoods with intermediate and high levels of deprivation had 44% and 107% greater risk of unfavorable outcomes, respectively, compared with patients living in neighborhoods with low levels of deprivation.

Researchers noted that patients with unfavorable outcomes were unable to look after their own affairs without assistance and required some help in daily activities. Patients with good recovery outcomes could live independently, though some might have had residual symptoms or disability.