April 17 (UPI) -- Women receive fewer medications after a heart attack and are more likely to die than men, according to a study presented Friday on a European Society of Cardiology platform.
The study, by the Cardiology Department of the University of Pavlia, Italy, involved follow-up surveys of 1,524 patients diagnosed with a myocardial infarction between 2015 and 2017, and who were prescribed post-heart attack medications.
The researchers found that while in-hospital rates of death were similar between men and women, after a 264-day follow-up, a greater percentage of women than than men had died.
The study noted that proper prescription management after discharge has a significant effect on death rates after heart surgery, the disparity in treatment was clear, researchers say.
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The researchers concluded that female patients were "less likely to receive optimal medical therapy at discharge. As OMT is a strong, independent predictor of survival, further research efforts should be invested to understand these potential sex-related disparities."
Fewer women, 55.3 percent compared to 63.9 percent of men, received OMT at discharge, the study's conclusions say. The data were published on Friday on AVCV Essentials 4U, an online platform of the ESC, a non-profit professional organization based in Sophia Antipolis, Belgium
"Female heart attack patients may appear more fragile to physicians since they are often older than men, with smaller bodies and more co-existing conditions such as diabetes and kidney disease," said study author Dr. Claudio Montalto.
"Therefore, I think doctors might avoid potent antiplatelets -- a blood thinning medication -- and aggressive blood pressure lowering," Montalto added. "Our study suggests that it is not being female that causes more deaths, but it is receiving fewer recommended drugs. In fact, getting the right medication nearly halves the risk of dying."
