Sex Differences in Mortality Following Acute Coronary Syndromes
- Jeffrey S. Berger, MD, MS;
- Laine Elliott, MS;
- Dianne Gallup, MS;
- Matthew Roe, MD;
- Christopher B. Granger, MD;
- Paul W. Armstrong, MD;
- R. John Simes, MD;
- Harvey D. White, DSc;
- Frans Van de Werf, MD, PhD;
- Eric J. Topol, MD;
- Judith S. Hochman, MD, MA;
- L. Kristin Newby, MD, MS;
- Robert A. Harrington, MD;
- Robert M. Califf, MD;
- Richard C. Becker, MD;
- Pamela S. Douglas, MD
- Author Affiliations: Department of Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York (Drs Berger and Hochman); Duke Clinical Research Institute (Drs Berger, Roe, Granger, Newby, Harrington, Becker, and Douglas), Duke Translational Medical Institute (Dr Califf), and Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Duke Clinical Research Institute (Mss Elliott and Gallup), Durham, North Carolina; Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada (Dr Armstrong); University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia (Dr Simes); Auckland City Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand (Mr White); Gasthuisberg University Hospital, Leuven, Belgium (Dr Van de Werf); and Scripps Translational Research Institute and Scripps Clinic, La Jolla, California (Dr Topol).
Abstract
Context Conflicting information exists about whether sex differences modulate short-term mortality following acute coronary syndromes (ACS).
Objectives To investigate the relationship between sex and 30-day mortality in ACS, and to determine whether this relationship was modified by clinical syndrome or coronary anatomy using a large database across the spectrum of ACS and adjusting for potentially confounding clinical covariates.
Design, Setting, and Participants A convenience sample of patients pooled from 11 independent, international, randomized ACS clinical trials between 1993 and 2006 whose databases are maintained at the Duke Clinical Research Institute, Durham, North Carolina. Of 136 247 patients, 38 048 (28%) were women; 102 004 (26% women) with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), 14 466 (29% women) with non-STEMI (NSTEMI), and 19 777 (40% women) with unstable angina.
Main Outcome Measure Thirty-day mortality following ACS.
Results Thirty-day mortality was 9.6% in women and 5.3% in men (odds ratio [OR], 1.91; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.83-2.00). After multivariable adjustment, mortality was not significantly different between women and men (adjusted OR, 1.06; 95% CI, 0.99-1.15). A significant sex by type of ACS interaction was demonstrated (P < .001). In STEMI, 30-day mortality was higher among women (adjusted OR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.06-1.24), whereas in NSTEMI (adjusted OR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.63-0.95) and unstable angina, mortality was lower among women (adjusted OR, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.43-0.70). In a cohort of 35 128 patients with angiographic data, women more often had nonobstructive (15% vs 8%) and less often had 2-vessel (25% vs 28%) and 3-vessel (23% vs 26%) coronary disease, regardless of ACS type. After additional adjustment for angiographic disease severity, 30-day mortality among women was not significantly different than men, regardless of ACS type. The relationship between sex and 30-day mortality was similar across the levels of angiographic disease severity (P for interaction = .70).
Conclusions Sex-based differences existed in 30-day mortality among patients with ACS and vary depending on clinical presentation. However, these differences appear to be largely explained by clinical differences at presentation and severity of angiographically documented disease.
