Clinical Trial Details
— Status: Completed
Administrative data
| NCT number |
NCT00005722 |
| Other study ID # |
4931 |
| Secondary ID |
|
| Status |
Completed |
| Phase |
N/A
|
| First received |
May 25, 2000 |
| Last updated |
June 23, 2005 |
| Start date |
September 1990 |
| Est. completion date |
September 1996 |
Study information
| Verified date |
May 2000 |
| Source |
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) |
| Contact |
n/a |
| Is FDA regulated |
No |
| Health authority |
United States: Federal Government |
| Study type |
Observational
|
Clinical Trial Summary
For State Health Departments located in Stroke Belt states, to assess high risk target
audiences' needs and identify opportunities for more effective delivery of medical and/or
educational services to reduce the high rate of stroke mortality experienced in the
southeastern United States.
Description:
BACKGROUND:
High blood pressure has long been established as the key risk factor for stroke, the third
leading cause of death in the United States and a significant risk factor for coronary heart
disease deaths. Cigarette smoking and obesity have also been found to be risk factors for
stroke as well as heart disease.
Death rates from stroke differ by state. In 1980, eleven states had age-adjusted stroke
mortality rates that were more than 10 percent higher than the United States average, 40.3
per 100,000. Ten of these eleven states (all except Indiana) were in the South, forming a
"Stroke Belt". Florida's northern counties experienced higher stroke mortality rates than
its southern counties, offering an opportunity for a comparative study.
In 1980, with few exceptions, each race/sex specific stroke death rate in the Stroke Belt
states was more than 10 percent above the national average. Nonwhite men and women in the
Stroke Belt had substantially higher rates than whites in the Stroke Belt and nonwhites
elsewhere in the United States. However, whites in Stroke Belt states also had greater
age-adjusted stroke death rates than did whites in other parts of the country.
In 1990, the National High Blood Pressure Education Program (NHBPEP) issued a Request for
Proposals for the Stroke Belt Initiative. State Health Departments located in states with
age-adjusted stroke mortality rates in excess of 10 percent of the national average were
encouraged to initiate projects that assessed high risk target audience needs and to
identify opportunities for more effective delivery of medical and/or educational services to
reduce the high rate of stroke mortality experienced in the southeastern United States.
These states were Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi,
North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. In addition, the State of Florida
was of interest because of differences in county age-adjusted stroke mortality
rates--northern counties in the state experienced mortality rates as high or higher than
rates in the Stroke Belt states, whereas southern counties exhibited rates closer to the
national average, representing an excellent opportunity for a comparative study.
DESIGN NARRATIVE:
The Stroke Belt Initiative had two phases. In Phase I, the pilot phase, State Health
Departments located in Stroke Belt states assessed high risk target audiences' needs and
identified opportunities for more effective delivery of medical and/or educational services
to reduce the high rate of stroke mortality experienced in the southeastern United States.
This phase lasted for three years, from September 1990 through August 1993.
In the second phase, the State Health Departments used the methods and materials developed
in the pilot phase to deliver health education interventions to reduce the overall risk of
stroke.
