Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Food deserts (FDs) are low-income areas with poor access to healthy foods. FD residents have higher rates of several cardiovascular risk factors, but the link between FDs and stroke has not been well studied. We evaluated whether FD residence was associated with incident ischemic stroke within the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Stroke Study (GCNKSS) and whether this association was due to low income, poor food access, or both. METHODS: All hospitalized stroke cases in the GCNK region were ascertained during calendar year 2015 using ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes for screening and confirmed by physician review. Patient home addresses were geocoded using Decentralized Geomarker Assessment for Multi-Site Studies. FD locations were obtained from the US Department of Agriculture Food Access Research Atlas, defined as census tracts with both poor food access and low income according to established definitions based on proximity to healthy food sources as well as area poverty rates and median household income. Population estimates were obtained from the 2015 5-year American Community Survey. Poisson regression models were used to calculate census tract-level incidence rates by FD status, as well as by food access and income categories, adjusting for age, sex, race, and income-by-access interaction. RESULTS: = 0.08). DISCUSSION: FD residents are at increased stroke risk, and this is primarily due to low area income rather than poor food access. Alternative measures of the food environment may help elucidate the links between income, dietary patterns, and stroke risk.
Source: Neurology
Authors: Christopher J. Becker, Janaki Patel, Heidi Sucharew, David Robinson, Brian Stamm, Regina Royan, Lisa Nobel, Robert J. Stanton, Kathleen S. Alwell, Daniel Woo, Felipe De Los Rios La Rosa, Jason Mackey, Simona Ferioli, Eva A. Mistry, Stacie Demel, Mary Haverbusch, Elisheva Coleman, Adam S. Jasne, Sabreena Slavin, Kyle B. Walsh, Michael Star, Brett Kissela, Dawn Kleindorfer
Institutions: University of Michigan, Wayne State University, University of Cincinnati, Indiana University Indianapolis, Indiana University School of Medicine, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Baptist Health South Florida, University of Chicago, Yale University, University of Kansas Medical Center, Soroka Medical Center
Language: English
Subfield: General Health Professions
Field: Health Professions
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4413107415