Identification of stroke risk among members of the Sacramento-area Hmong community and development programs for primary stroke prevention

UC Davis Neurology department stroke team members suspect an excess rate of stroke exists among members of the Hmong community compared to other groups represented in the diverse Sacramento region. Members of the Hmong community often present with severe hemorrhagic strokes associated with uncontrolled hypertension, often in the context of lack of access to primary care and/or medical insurance, necessitating extensive ICU stays with accompanying severe morbidity and mortality. No existing efforts at primary stroke prevention have been attempted in the Sacramento-region Hmong community. Barriers to primary stroke prevention include language and cultural issues as well as health literacy, exemplified by the fact that the Hmong language does not have a word for stroke. Objectives: 1. To identify the incidence of stroke among members of the Hmong community admitted to UCDMC for acute stroke and to compare this to stroke incidence among other groups represented in our diverse community. 2. To develop a multi-disciplinary outreach program partnering UCDMC personnel with local and regional Hmong community organizations targeting the Sacramento-area Hmong community to enhance identification of treatable causes of stroke, including hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia and smoking, for a future intervention aimed at reducing the stroke rate in this population.