Sex differences in one-year mortality after a first-ever myocardial infarction.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the significance of sex in one-year prognosis of death from ischemic heart disease after a first-ever myocardial infarction.

METHODS

Kaunas men and women aged 25-64 years and admitted to the hospitals of Kaunas due to a first-ever myocardial infarction during 1983-1992, and with a first coded electrocardiogram were enrolled into the study. Electrocardiograms were analyzed using the criteria of the Monitoring Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Disease (MONICA) Project of World Health Organization (WHO) and the Minnesota Code. The Kaunas ischemic heart disease register was a source of data.

RESULTS

Women with a Q-wave or non-Q-wave myocardial infarction were older; they had anterior localization of myocardial infarction, a history of diabetes and obesity more frequently than men. Myocardial infarction was more often complicated by atrial flutter or fibrillation (p=0.02) in women with Q-wave myocardial infarction than in men, and women with non-Q-wave myocardial infarction more frequently had history of hypertension than men (p=0.00). One-year mortality after a myocardial infarction was significantly higher in women with Q-wave myocardial infarction than in women with non-Q-wave myocardial infarction (p=0.03). There was no difference in odds to die during a first year after myocardial infarction with or without Q-wave between women and men neither in univariate nor in multivariate analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

Women aged 25 to 64 years had similar crude risk of dying during one year after initial myocardial infarction compared with men of the same age group. There were no statistically significant differences between men and women with Q-wave or non-Q-wave myocardial infarction after adjustment for potential confounders.