Post-cardiac arrest survival rates are improving in the U.S., but new research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association shows women receive less aggressive cardiac care and experience worse outcomes than men.
The study's authors analyzed data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample database on all patients who suffered cardiac arrest between 2003 and 2012. All total, the study included 1.4 million discharge records, 45.4 percent of which were for female patients.
Highlighted below are five takeaways from the study.
1. Between 2003 and 2012, the average annual rate of cardiac arrests in men and women increased by 14 percent.
2. Over the 10-year study period, the in-hospital mortality rate after cardiac arrest decreased significantly for both women (from 69.1 percent to 60.9 percent) and men (from 67.2 percent to 58.6 percent).
3. Ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation arrests increased by 25.9 percent between 2003 and 2012.
4. Overall, women were less likely to present with ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation arrests than men. However, women were also less likely than men to receive coronary angiography, percutaneous coronary interventions or targeted temperature management in ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation and pulseless electrical activity/asystole arrests.
5. Ultimately, the in-hospital mortality rate for cardiac arrest was significantly higher in women (64 percent) than men (61.4 percent), especially among the cohort that suffered from ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation arrest (49.4 percent of women versus 45.6 percent of men).
"Although we have made a lot of improvement in treating patients with cardiac arrest over the last decade, there is room for improvement, especially in women," lead researcher Luke Kim, MD, told HealthDay.
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