WEDNESDAY, June 11 (HealthDay News) -- Mexican Americans and women appear to be at higher risk of subarachnoid hemorrhage compared with non-Hispanic whites and men, respectively, according to a report published online June 11 in Neurology.

Sonia V. Eden, M.D., of the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, and colleagues conducted a prospective study to determine ethnic and gender differences in presentation and outcomes of subarachnoid hemorrhage patients. They identified 107 patients over 44 years of age in Corpus Christi, Texas, who had non-traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage between 2000 and 2006.

Of the 107 patients, 60 percent were Mexican Americans, while 40 percent were non-Hispanic whites, compared to the population at large, which was 48 percent Mexican American and 53 percent non-Hispanic white, the researchers report. The age-adjusted risk-ratio for subarachnoid hemorrhage was 1.67 in Mexican Americans compared to non-Hispanic whites and 1.74 in women compared to men. Overall, 32 percent of subjects died in hospital, the report indicates. The researchers did not perceive any ethnic differences in outcomes at discharge, although the study sample was small.

"Further studies are indicated to fully appreciate the etiology of these differences," the researchers write. "The current study also suggests a trend that women may contribute disproportionately to the increased burden of subarachnoid hemorrhage in Mexican Americans. Public health planners may consider women and Mexican Americans high-risk groups for risk-factor reduction efforts."

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