In Hawaii, Filipino ethnicity is an independent risk factor for higher in-hospital stroke mortality as compared with whites, according to a recent study. Using a statewide hospital claims database (n=13,030), researchers performed a retrospective study including sequential acute ischemic stroke patients between 2010 and 2015. They compared in-hospital mortality rates among whites, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders (NHOPI), Filipinos, other Asian groups excluding Filipinos, and other races. They found:

• NHOPI patients had higher rates of diabetes (48.8%), obesity (18.4%), and tobacco use (31.3%) compared with patients in other racial-ethnic categories.
• Filipino patients had the highest rate of hemorrhagic transformation (9.7%).
• Age-adjusted stroke mortality rates were highest among Filipinos, followed by other Asian groups, NHOPI, other race, and lowest among whites.
• After adjusting for other confounding variables, Filipinos had higher mortality, whereas other Asian groups, NHOPI, and other race patients had mortality rates that were similar to whites.