Be Sociable, and You’re More Likely to Survive a Stroke

The odds of surviving a stroke seem to be better for seniors who live in neighborhoods where they interact more often with their neighbors, and can count on them for help.  That’s the conclusion of a study from the University of Minnesota, reported in the journal Stroke.  The researchers knew that social isolation was associated with poorer outcomes for a variety of conditions, and wanted to look at the effects of ‘neighborhood social cohesion’ on stroke risk.  

The analyzed data came from 5,789 participants – 60% female, 62% black, average age 75 – living in three neighborhoods in Chicago.  The subjects were interviewed about their neighborhood and their interactions with neighbors.  The ‘cohesiveness’ of the neighborhood was based on answers to such questions as these:  How often (often, sometimes, rarely, or never) do you see neighbors and friends talking outside in the yard or on the street?  Do you see neighbors helping out each other, e.g. doing yard work or child-watching?  Or watching out for each other, e.g. calling if they see a problem? How many neighbors do you know by name, talk with at least once a week, could you call on for help around the home, or ‘borrow a cup of sugar’?

Over the next 11 years, there were 86 stroke deaths and 701 first strokes among the enrollees.  After adjusting for potentially disrupting factors, such as socioeconomic status, cardiovascular risk factors, smoking, physical disability, diabetes, and obesity, a social-cohesiveness score was determined for each individual, and then averaged according to 82 census block groups, giving a neighborhood level measure of sociability. 

The analysis showed that each 1-point increase in cohesion was associated with a 53% reduced risk of stroke mortality, although there was no such association for first stroke incidence.  A possible reason for the difference here is that greater cohesion could result in earlier help and/or in calling -911, thus helping stroke survival while not altering incidence.  Analyzing by race, it was found that cohesion was protective in whites but not in blacks; there was no clear explanation offered for this. 

How well would you do on the survey questions?  Shouldn’t you be more active in seeking our points of communication with your neighbors to improve your sociability – and maybe save your life?