Dr. Jim Laditka and Dr. Sarah Laditka study racial differences life expectancy and disability after a stroke

Our study accounted for stroke throughout later life and compared African American and white women and men with and without stroke beginning at the same starting time. Our study was published in a recent issue of Disability and Health Journal as, “Stroke, Disability, and Mortality in the United States: 1999-2009.”

Our study extends our research on active life expectancy using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the longest running household survey in the world. Active life expectancy is the average length of life and the proportions of life with and without disability. We found that average age at first stroke was higher for women, lower for African Americans. African American and White women were disabled for about two-thirds of life after stroke; results for men were 61.8% for African Americans and 37.2% for Whites. People with strokes lived 33% fewer years from age 55 than people without stroke, with a 31.6% greater proportion of remaining life with disability. Our results suggest a heavy toll of disability associated with stroke, particularly for African Americans. Our results underscore the importance of stroke prevention and treatment.

You can read the abstract for our study here: http://www.disabilityandhealthjnl.com/article/S1936-6574(14)00088-0/abstract