New study finds that race may in fact play a role in stroke risk over the age of 65. Patients who had atrial fibrillation (AF) and were over the age of 65 were found to be at higher risk for stroke if they were African American.
The study reported that the only risk factors with a stronger association than African American ethnicity were being over 75, having a previous stroke, or being a female.
Risk factors that lead to the prediction of the likelihood of a stroke following a diagnosis of AF include congestive heart failure, hypertension, age 75 and older, diabetes, previous stroke, vascular disease, age 65 to 74, and female sex.
These risk factors determine the CHA2DS2-VASc score, and patients with a score of 2 are considered to be at moderate to high risk. This scoring system has been changed to CHA2DS2-VASc-R to include race into the equation. Patients who are African American with AF will start with a higher baseline score then patients with AF of other ethnicities.
An African American patients with patient with a score of 1 on the test has the same stroke risk as a white patient with a score of 2.
This research suggests that it would be beneficial for clinicians to begin taking race into account when considering an anticoagulant prescription.