Acute myocardial infarction in women: survival analysis in first six months

Abstract

Objective : To examine the influence that being female has on the outcome of acute myocardial infarction. Design : Observational follow up study. Setting : London district general hospital. Patients : 216 women and 607 men with acute myocardial infarction admitted to a coronary care unit from 1 January 1988 to 31 December 1992. Main outcome measures : All cause mortality and recurrent ischaemic events in the first six months. Results : Event free survival (95% confidence interval) at six months was 63.3% (56.3% to 69.4%) in women and 76.1% (72.4% to 79.4%) in men, PConclusions : Women with acute myocardial infarction have a worse prognosis than men but the excess risk is confined to the first 30 days and is only party explained by age and other baseline variables. The tendency for women to receive less vigorous treatment than men must be remedied before gender can be considered to be an independent determinant of risk.