Background:
Despite the excess risk of mortality in young women following acute myocardial infarction (AMI), little effort has been made to describe their long-term outcomes, particularly with respect to their health status (symptoms, function and quality of life). Accordingly, we assessed gender differences in 1-year health status outcomes after AMI.
Methods:
Data was used from the VIRGO study, an observational cohort of patients aged ≤55 years with AMI in the US and Spain (n=3,501, 67% women). Clinical data was abstracted from medical records and health status was obtained through patient interviews at the time of hospitalization and at 1-year later [Short Form 12 (SF-12) and the Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ)]. Patient scores were categorized as “bad” if they had below average scores on the SF-12 components, had a score below 100 on the SAQ physical limitations (PL) or the SAQ angina frequency (AF), or had a score below 75 on the SAQ quality of life (QOL) at either baseline or 1-year. Patients were classified as having a “poor” outcome for a measure if they had a “bad” score at both baseline and 1-year or had a “bad” score at 1-year. Logistic regression models were used to assess factors associated with having a “poor” outcome for each scale.
Results:
The median age was 48 years (IQR: 44, 52). Women were more likely to present with diabetes (39% vs. 27%), obesity (51% vs. 45%), stroke (5% vs. 2%), heart failure (5% vs. 2%), lung disease (13% vs. 5%), and depression (48% vs. 24%, all P values <0.0001). Women were more likely to have “poor outcomes” compared with men (SF-12 PCS 46% vs. 30%; SF-12 MCS 47% vs. 30%; SAQ AF 32% vs. 25%; SAQ PL 29% vs. 20%; SAQ QOL 42% vs. 28%, all p-values <0.001). Female gender, prior AMI/percutaneous coronary intervention/coronary artery bypass grafting, and smoking within 30 days were independent predictors of having a “poor” outcome for all health status measures. Specifically, women had an increased odds of having a “poor” outcome on the SF-12 PCS (OR=2.05; 95% CI 1.69, 2.48), MCS (OR=1.98; 95% CI 1.65, 2.39), SAQ AF (OR=1.39; 95% CI 1.15, 1.67), SAQ PL (OR=1.62; 95% CI 1.32, 1.99) and the SAQ QOL scale (OR=1.84; 95% CI 1.53, 2.22), as compared with men.
Conclusion:
Compared with men, young women are more likely to have “poor” health status outcomes after AMI. This information is critically important in developing targets for gender-specific interventions to improve young women’s recovery post AMI.
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