Women more likely to die after heart attack than men: Study

Women were significantly less likely than men to survive in the short and long term. At 30 days after the heart event, just 38 per cent of women were alive compared with 50 percent of men. At 8.5 years, 27 per cent of women were alive compared with 39 per cent of men.

Brussels: According to new research, women are less likely to receive life saving treatment for cardiogenic shock than men.The findings of the research were presented at ESC Acute CardioVascular Care 2022, a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).

"The women and men in our study had similar clinical characteristics when they developed cardiogenic shock after a heart attack," said study author Dr Sarah Holle of Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet, Denmark.

"This was a retrospective study so it is difficult to know why clinicians made certain treatment decisions. But the findings indicate that greater awareness among health professionals that women have heart attacks and may develop cardiogenic shock could be a step towards equitable management and outcomes."

Cardiogenic shock is a life-threatening condition in which the heart suddenly fails to pump enough blood to supply the body`s organs with sufficient oxygen. It is usually caused by a large heart attack. It is estimated that up to 10 percent of patients with heart attacks affecting a large area of the heart also develop cardiogenic shock.

Only half of the patients who experience cardiogenic shock will survive. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in treatment and survival between women and men with a heart attack and cardiogenic shock.