MONDAY, December 21, 2020 (HealthDay News) – Women who are resuscitated from cardiac arrest are less likely to receive two frequent treatments after arriving in the hospital and are far more likely to die in the hospital than men, a new study finds.
The researchers analyzed data from nearly 4,900 resuscitated cardiac arrest out-of-hospital patients in the US and Canada from 2010 to 2015. Of these, just over 37% were women, mean age 67 and nearly 63% were men, mean age 65
The survival rates to discharge from hospital were 22.5% for women and 36% for men.
After resuscitation, women were much less likely to receive two treatments for cardiac arrest patients: therapeutic hypothermia (cooling the body to a temperature below normal); and coronary angiography to examine cardiac arteries and open blood flow.
The hypothermic rates were 35% for women and 44% for men, while the coronary angiography rates were 14% for women and 30% for men.
More research is needed to determine the reasons for these differences, according to the authors of the study, which was published online Dec. 15 in the journal Circulation.
The researchers also found that women: 6% less likely than men to receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) from a spectator; less likely to have cardiac arrest in public; and less likely to have shockable rhythm.
A cardiac arrest in public results in a faster call to 911 and doubles a patient’s chance of survival to hospital discharge. However, after resuscitation, both women and men begin to recover from similar starting points, noted study author Dr. Ahamed Idris feast. He is Professor of Emergency Medicine and Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
“Our work is showing new ways in which we can improve the survival of women,” Idris said in a press release from the medical center. “Why are emergency procedures different for women than for men?”
The study author Dr. Ambarish Pandey, a cardiologist and assistant professor of internal medicine at UT Southwestern, said, “This is one of the few studies looking into what happens to people after resuscitation. Now we need some insight into whether these results depend on it.” What is happening in the hospital? We still have a long way to go to ensure gender equality in treatment. “
In the United States, approximately 300,000 people experience cardiac arrest outside of the hospital each year.
More information
The American Heart Association has more about cardiac arrest.
SOURCE: UT Southwestern, press release, December 15, 2020
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