Introduction
Cerebrovascular attack (CVA) or stroke occurs when the brain does not receive sufficient blood (Magalhaes & Rocha-Filho, 2018). The common causes can be a rupture or blockage of a blood vessel (Magalhaes & Rocha-Filho, 2018). The cerebrovascular attack is dangerous due to the high mortality risk and is always a reason for urgent medical intervention.
As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2023) informs, almost eight million adults have ever had a stroke in the United States. In addition, black or African Americans, as well as American Indians or Alaska Natives, have the highest frequency rates of stroke (Muller, Alonso, Forster, et al., 2019). Regardless of the racial or ethnic background, stroke remains one of the most acute problems in the U.S., requiring rapid action.
Community Assessment
The chosen community for the present research is represented by the elderly aged 55 and over living in Horry County, South Carolina. The data on County Health Rankings & Roadmaps (CHRR, 2023) states that 30.4% of the population lives in a low population-density area, suggesting that people may not always have proper access to healthcare services. The percentage of the age category 65 and older is 26.1% in Horry (CHRR, 2023). There is no information regarding people aged 55 and above, so people of this age category are more than 30%.
The race and ethnicity data are also crucial to this study because the representatives of a particular ethnicity may be exposed to more risk factors for stroke, as mentioned above. As the United States Census Bureau (USCB, 2022) shows, white people represent the majority of the Horry County population, 83%. To compare, the Black or African American group is only 12.6%, and the percentage of other races does not exceed 6.3% (USCB, 2022). As for gender, females represent 51.7% of the population, and males make up48.3% accordingly (USCB, 2022). As one can see, the ethnic diversity of Horry County is relatively low.
Given the percentage of elderly persons in the community, it is significant to mention the effects of CVA on the body. Stroke can cause pain and difficulties with holding and gripping; it can also lead to various psycho-emotional issues, such as anxiety or depression, aggressiveness, or apathy (Cerebrovascular disease). Generally, many other short- and long-term effects worsen the quality of life.
Location: Horry County, South Carolina
While demographics have already been discussed, it is possible to identify risk factors and observe vital and stroke statistics in Horry County. The data from CHRR (2023) shows a relatively high rate of adult obesity, amounting to 35%, which contributes to the development of cerebrovascular diseases and stroke.
Another risk factor is 25% of physical inactivity, while 80% of the population has access to exercise opportunities (CHRR, 2023). As for the vital statistics, data on deaths has only been possible. Thus, alcohol-impaired driving deaths amount to 26%, and drug overdose and injury deaths equal 39 and 104 people in 2023, respectively (CHRR, 2023).
The CVA-related statistics for 2018-2020 show the highest stroke death rate among non-Hispanic Black populations, reaching 30.4 people per 100,000, which exceeds the state rate of 28.2 (CDC, 2020). This rate is substantially lower for the white population and amounts to 18.6 (CDC, 2020). Remarkably, this data is for people aged between 45 and 65, while no information could be found for populations aged 55 and older.
Conclusion
Finally, CVA remains a serious problem in Horry County due to risk factors such as obesity and physical inactivity. Data from different sources were used to analyze the county’s population. However, some information, including vital statistics about births and marriages, is missing. In addition, the impact of stroke on the body has been briefly discussed. The findings suggest that the CVA prevention and control issue should be urgently addressed.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023). Cerebrovascular disease or stroke. Web.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). County profile for Horry, SC. Web.
Cerebrovascular disease. (n.d.). American Association of Neurological Surgeons. Web.
County Health Rankings & Roadmaps. (2023). Horry, SC. Web.
Magalhaes, J. E. & Rocha-Filho, P. A. S. (2018). Migraine and cerebrovascular diseases: Epidemiology, pathophysiological, and clinical considerations. Headache Currents, 58(8), 1277-1286, Web.
Muller, C. J., Alonso, A., Forster, J., Vock, D. M., Zhang, Y., Gottesman, R. F., Rosamond, W., Longstreth, W. T. & MacLehose, R. F. (2019). Stroke incidence and survival in American Indians, blacks and whites: The strong heart study and atherosclerosis risk in communities study. Journal of the American Heart Association, 8(12), Web.
United States Census Bureau. (2022). QuickFacts: Horry County, South Carolina. Web.