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Lower socioeconomic status yielded poorer catheterization, mortality rates among women
Women in lower socioeconomic groups were less likely to receive cardiac catheterization and experienced higher mortality rates than men and women in higher socioeconomic groups, according to recent findings.
Researchers of the study published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes suggested that gender and neighborhood socioeconomic status may create barriers that impact outcomes of ACS by negatively influencing timely access to cardiac catheterization.
The aim of the current study was to determine the role of gender in modifying the associations between neighborhood socioeconomic status, timing and receipt of catheterization and mortality in a cohort of 14,012 patients with ACS admitted to the cardiology services department of a universal health care system.
Patients treated in Southern Alberta, Canada, between April 18, 2004 and Dec. 31, 2011 underwent analysis.
Several outcome measures were calculated, including the odds of cardiac catheterization within 2 and 30 days of admission and the odds of 30-day and 1-year mortality among both men and women. These outcomes were calculated by quintile based on the median income of the household of the individual treated.
Neighborhood socioeconomic status and receipt of cardiac catheterization was significantly associated with mortality in women but not men with ACS, according to the findings.
A 6% lower chance of receiving cardiac catheterization within 30 days occurred with each incremental decrease in the quintile of socioeconomic status among women (P=.001). Accordingly, mortality rates increased by 14% with each decrease in socioeconomic quintile among these women (P=.03).
Men experienced a 2% decrease in likelihood of receiving cardiac catheterization within 30 days with each decrease in neighborhood income quintile (P=.10). Thirty-day mortality rates increased by 5% with each decrease in neighborhood income quintile among men (P=.36).
“Care protocols designed to improve equity of access to care and outcomes are required, especially for low-income women,” the researchers concluded.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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