Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2010 Jan;12(1):6-13.
doi: 10.1007/s11886-009-0080-2.

Stroke in women: disparities and outcomes

Rebecca W Persky  1 , Lisa Christine Turtzo, Louise D McCullough
Affiliations
Review

Stroke in women: disparities and outcomes

Rebecca W Persky et al. Curr Cardiol Rep. 2010 Jan.

Abstract

Stroke is the leading cause of disability in the United States and affects 15 million people worldwide. Studies performed in various parts of the world have found differences between sexes in stroke incidence, prevalence, mortality, and outcomes. Although men are at higher risk of stroke for most age groups below age 85 years, after this age the incidence reverses dramatically, with women being much more at risk. Furthermore, recent studies suggest that women have worse recovery than men post-stroke. Many aspects of recovery may influence this outcome, including sex-specific comorbidities, aggressiveness of acute treatment, prevention therapies, and varying degrees of social support and rates of depression. It is important to further define and investigate sex differences in stroke incidence, care, treatment, and outcomes to improve functional recovery in women.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Approximate risk of stroke by age and sex. Data were compiled from available sources to estimate the approximate risk of stroke over the life span [, , –50]
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. American Heart Association . Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics—2009 Update. American Heart Association; Dallas, TX: 2009. This is an informative list of recent stroke statistics on incidence, prevalence, and mortality in the United States.

    1. Reeves MJ, Bushnell CD, Howard G, et al. Sex differences in stroke: epidemiology, clinical presentation, medical care, and outcomes. Lancet Neurol. 2008;7:915–926. - PMC - PubMed

    1. Turtzo LC, McCullough LD. Sex differences in stroke. Cerebrovasc Dis. 2008;26:462–474. This is a comprehensive review on epidemiology, etiology, outcomes, and special circumstances affecting men and women in stroke.

    1. Appelros P, Stegmayr B, Terent A. Sex differences in stroke epidemiology: a systematic review. Stroke. 2009;40:1082–1090. - PubMed
    1. Towfighi A, Saver JL, Engelhardt R, Ovbiagele B. A midlife stroke surge among women in the United States. Neurology. 2007;69:1898–1904. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms