Disparities in care may be one reason for the differences, researchers say
TUESDAY, Aug. 4, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) takes more years from the expected life spans of women and blacks than from white males, according to a study published in the Aug. 11 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
For the study, the researchers analyzed 146,743 Medicare patients who’d been hospitalized for AMI from 1994 to 1995. Forty-eight percent of the group was female and 6 percent was black. Their average age when the study began was 74 to 77.
After 17 years of follow-up, the researchers found that over 7 percent were still alive. The survival rates were 8.3 percent for white men, 6.4 percent for white women, 5.4 percent for black men, and 5.8 percent for black women. On average, women lost almost two more years of potential life after AMI than men across all ages. And blacks lost nearly a year more of potential life after AMI compared to whites, the researchers noted.
“Black patients had more risk factors, were sicker when they first presented to care, and received less treatment than white patients,” lead author Emily Bucholz, M.D., Ph.D., of the Yale School of Medicine and Yale School of Public Health in New Haven, Conn., told HealthDay. “However, we were not able to explain the sex differences in life years lost that we observed.”
One author disclosed financial ties to Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic.
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
Editorial (subscription or payment may be required)
Copyright © 2015 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
