Women are 20 per cent more likely to die in the first five years after their first heart attack than men, a study has concluded.
Researchers from Canada studied 45,064 patients from Canada who had been hospitalised after their first heart attack, monitoring them each for around six years.
The team found that women are receiving poorer treatment than men on average — with less surgeries performed, specialist consultations and medications prescribed.
Women are 20 per cent more likely to die in the first five years after their first heart attack than men, a study has concluded. Pictured, a woman experiencing chest pains (stock image)
Heart attacks come in two forms — a life-threatening form called an ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, or STEMI, and a less-severe version called non-STEMI, which is more common.
In their study, the team found that the development of heart failure after a STEMI or a non-STEMI — whether in hospital of following discharge — remains higher for women than for men.
Specifically, women were 9.4 per cent more likely to die in hospital following a STEMI and 4.5 per after an non-STEMI — as compared to 4.7 per cent and 2.9 per cent, respectively, for men.
On average, the women in the cohort studied were just over 10 years older than the men — with a mean age of 72, compared with 61 — and were more likely to have other health problems.
These included conditions like atrial fibrillation, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.
Despite these increased health problems, only 72.8 per cent of the women were seen by a cardiovascular specialist, as compared to 84 per cent of men.
‘Identifying when and how women may be at higher risk for heart failure after a heart attack can help providers develop more effective approaches for prevention,’ said paper author and cardiologist Justin Ezekowitz of the University of Alberta.
‘Better adherence to reducing cholesterol, controlling high blood pressure, getting more exercise, eating a healthy diet and stopping smoking, combined with recognition of these problems earlier in life would save thousands of lives.’
The same advice would also apply well to men, he added.
‘Close enough is not good enough. There are gaps across diagnosis, access, quality of care and follow-up for all patients,’ said cardiologist Padma Kaul of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
‘We need to be vigilant, pay attention to our own biases and to those most vulnerable to ensure that we have done everything possible in providing the best treatment,’ Dr Kaul added.
The full findings of the study were published in the journal Circulation.
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