Differences in health characteristics and health behaviors between rural and non-rural community-dwelling stroke survivors aged ≥65 years in the USA.

Objectives: To examine differences in health characteristics and health behaviors between rural and non-rural stroke survivors in the USA.

Methods: Data were extracted from the 2017 and 2019 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to compare prevalences of health characteristics (i.e., diabetes, disability, poor health, high cholesterol, hypertension, no health care coverage, weight status) and health behaviors (i.e., fruit consumption, vegetable consumption, physical inactivity, high alcohol consumption, smoking) among community-dwelling stroke survivors, stratified by rural status (i.e., rural vs. non-rural). Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) for health characteristics and health behaviors to examine the association of rural status with each variable of interest (reference group=non-rural).

Results: Data from 14,599 respondents (rural: n = 5,039; non-rural: n = 9,560) were available for analysis. The majority of respondents were female (61.4%), non-Hispanic white (83.2%), previously married (56.1%), had at least some college education (55.2%), and had an annual household income ≥USD $25,000 (56.9%). Prevalences of disability, poor health, weekly aerobic exercise, and smoking were higher among rural respondents compared to non-rural respondents. Logistic regression showed increased odds (odds ratio range: 1.1-1.2) for these variables among rural respondents; however, odds ratios were attenuated after controlling for sociodemographic and health characteristics.

Conclusions: We did not find evidence of differences in the investigated health characteristics and health behaviors between rural and non-rural community-dwelling stroke survivors in the USA. Additional research is needed to confirm these findings and to identify alternative sociodemographic and health factors that may differ between rural and non-rural community-dwelling stroke survivors.