Background:
The overall mortality rate after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is falling in the United States. However, outcomes remain unacceptably worse in females compared to males. It is not known how coexisting atrial fibrillation (AF) modify outcomes among the sexes. We sought to examine the association of sex with clinical characteristics and outcomes after AMI among patients with AF.
Methods:
We accessed the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), to extract all hospitalizations between 2007 and 2011 for patients above 18yrs with principal diagnosis of AMI and coexisting diagnosis of AF using ICD 9-CM codes. The NIS represents the largest all-payer hospitalization database in the United States, sampling approximately 8 million hospitalizations per year. We also extracted outcomes data (length of stay (LOS), stroke and in-hospital mortality) after AMI among Patients with AF. We then compared sex differences. Univariate and Multivariate analysis were conducted to determine the presence of statistically significant difference in outcomes between men and women.
Results:
A total of 184,584 AF patients with AMI were sampled, consisting of 46.82% (86,420) women and 53.13% (98,164) men. Compared with men, women with AF and AMI had a greater multivariate-adjusted risk for increased stroke rate (aOR=1.51, 95% CI=1.45-1.59), and higher in-hospital mortality (aOR=1.12, 95% CI=1.09-1.15). However, female gender was not significantly associated with longer LOS (aOR=-0.22, 95% CI= -0.29-(-0.14).
Conclusion:
In this large nationwide study of a population-based cohort, women experienced worse outcomes after AMI among patients with AF. They had higher in-hospital mortality and increased stroke rates. Our findings highlight the need for targeted interventions to improve these disparities in outcomes.
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