Women under the age of 55 have almost double the risk of being readmitted to the hospital in the year following a heart attack compared to men of the same age, according to research sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. This disparity may be due to higher rates of risk factors such as obesity, heart failure and depression among women. The study recommends closer health monitoring for the approximately 40,000 American women in this age group who experience heart attacks each year. Non-cardiac factors more common in women, such as depression and low income levels, also contribute to higher readmission rates.
NIH-supported findings identify risk factors for women and suggest a need for closer surveillance.
A study funded by the National Institutes of Health showed that women under the age of 55 were nearly twice as likely to be readmitted to the hospital within a year of a heart attack compared to men of the same age. I’m here. This may be due to higher rates of risk factors such as obesity, heart failure, depression and low income levels. More monitoring and further research are needed.
A study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health found that women under the age of 55 have almost twice the risk of being readmitted to the hospital shortly after a heart attack compared to men of the same age. Higher rates of risk factors such as obesity, heart failure, and depression among women are the most likely causes of the disparity.
The findings closely monitor the health status of nearly 40,000 American women ages 18 to 55 who have heart attacks each year after being discharged from the hospital, to better understand the reasons behind their varying outcomes. suggesting that it is necessary. The study, funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of NIH, was announced today. Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
“For the first time, we have shown that readmission after heart attack in women 55 and younger is associated with specific non-cardiac factors, such as depression and low income, that are more common in women than in men.” Harlan M. Krumholz, M.D., a cardiologist and professor of medicine at Yale University School of Medicine, who is also director of the school’s Center for Outcomes, Research and Evaluation (CORE), said: “This study It highlights the need to pay more attention to non-cardiac risk factors in young women to design better clinical interventions and improve outcomes after heart attack discharge.”
“Further research into these risk factors may help physicians and their patients focus on ways to improve women’s health after discharge from the hospital,” said lead investigator of the study, co-author of the CORE study. said Yuan Lu, Sc.D. Assistant Professor of Medicine, Yale University.
Researchers have long known that women under the age of 55 have about twice the risk of in-hospital death from a heart attack as men of the same age. However, it was unclear whether women discharged after being treated for heart attacks were at increased risk of cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular complications.
To learn more, the researchers analyzed data from the NHLBI’s VIRGO (Variable Recovery: The Role of Gender on Outcomes in Younger Patients with AMI) study. The study included 2,979 of her patients (2,007 female, 972 male) at 103 US hospitals. The average age of participants was 48 years old, and they came from an ethnically and racially diverse population.
Analyzes showed that nearly 30% of these patients were readmitted within a year of their initial hospital discharge after the heart attack. Most of these return visits peaked within her first month after the patient was discharged and declined slowly in subsequent months. Researchers found that women had almost twice the risk of readmission (1.65 times higher) than men.
Coronary-related complications related to vascular occlusion, such as heart attack and angina pectoris, were the leading causes of readmissions in both men and women. Yet, the incidence of coronary artery-related complications in women was approximately 1.5 times higher than in men. Risk factor such as obesity and diabetes.
The greatest gender difference appeared in non-cardiac readmissions, which was more than twice (or 2.10 times) greater in women than in men. These were hospitalizations caused by events unrelated to heart disease or stroke, such as digestive problems, depression, bleeding, and pneumonia.
The reasons behind these higher non-cardiac rates are unknown, but researchers were more likely to identify women than men as having lower incomes (48% vs. 31%) and having a history of depression. We found a higher rate of history (49% vs. 24%). Low income is not a medical measure, but it is often associated with poor health due to limited access to medical care. The risk of depression is known to increase after a heart attack and may be a risk factor for higher hospitalization rates, in part because the condition is poorly treated in women. Further research is needed to further investigate how these factors influence different hospitalizations after heart attack.
“Future research on non-cardiac risk factors after hospital discharge after a heart attack may lead to the development of targeted strategies that could narrow this equity gap.” Scientific Advisor: “I look forward to further research in this area.”
Mitsuaki Sawano MD, PhD, Yuan Lu ScD, César Caraballo MD, Shiwani Mahajan MBBS, MHS, Rachel Dreyer PhD, Judith H. Lichtman PhD, MPH, Gail D MD, MS, Erica Spatz MD, MHS, Rohan Khera MD, MS, Oyere Onuma MD, MSc, Karthik Murugiah MBBS, John A. Spertus MD, MPH and Harlan M. Krumholz MD, SM, 1 May 2023, Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2023.03.383
This study was supported by grant R01HL081153 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and used data from the VIRGO study (NCT00597922).
