Incidence and case fatality rates of stroke subtypes in a multiethnic population: the South London Stroke Register

Objective: To identify sociodemographic differences in the incidence of the subtypes of first ever stroke in a multiethnic population. Methods: A prospective community stroke register (1995–8) was developed using multiple notification sources and pathological and clinical classifications of stroke. Standardisation of rates was to European and World populations and adjusted for age, sex and socioeconomic status in multivariate analyses. A multiethnic population of 234 533 in south London, of whom 21% are black was studied. Results: A total of 1254 cases were registered. The average age of stroke was 71.7 years with black patients being 11.3 years younger than white patients (p