To highlight some of the research at the meeting, News Media Relations has prepared news tips on some of the abstracts that will be presented. Abstract numbers are listed for each tip. Note: Stories are embargoed until the poster session begins at 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 30. For more information call Bridgette McNeill at 214-706-1135 or Carole Bullock at 214-706-1279:

P15 Less educated African-Americans likely to drop out of weight loss programs. Drop-out rates in obesity treatment programs are often high, and low attendance is tied to poor results. To identify factors that might influence dropping out or skipping sessions, researchers analyzed attendance patterns at a 10-week weight loss program advertised to African-Americans. More than 60 of the 211 subjects had dropped out by the end of the first class. Independent predictors of dropping out included being younger, having less than a high school education and working in a clerical occupation. Of the subjects who continued the weight-loss program, the attendance rate was just 63 percent (6 of 10 classes). Lower attendance was associated with higher diastolic blood pressure, weight gain in the previous six months and a tendency to view the program as requiring a lot of effort. Shiriki K. Kumanyika, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, 215-898-2629; skumanyi@cceb.med.upenn.edu.

P27 Do women have more adverse outcomes than men following stroke? About 500,000 Americans have a stroke each year, yet little is known about gender differences in outcomes among patients. In a study of almost 75,000 patients with a primary diagnosis of stroke, 56 percent of them women, researchers found that women were 1.2 times more likely to di
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Contact: Bridgette McNeill
bridgette.mcneill@heart.org
214-706-1135
American Heart Association
30-Sep-2001