Letter by Sposato and Saposnik Regarding Article, “Socioeconomic Status and Stroke: An Updated Review”

Abstract

To the Editor: We read with great interest the article “Socioeconomic Status and Stroke: An Updated Review” by Addo et al.1 The authors analyzed articles reporting the association between measures of socioeconomic status and stroke between January 2006 and July 2011. They found a >3-fold greater stroke impact (eg, disability-adjusted life-years lost and mortality rates), a higher stroke incidence, and a greater frequency of vascular risk factors in low-income compared with high- and middle-income countries. Similarly, in a systematic review of population-based studies published between 2000 and 2010, reporting incident stroke risk and/or 30-day case-fatality, we found that lower per-capita gross domestic product adjusted for purchasing power parity and total health expenditure per capita at purchasing power parity were associated …