The Daily Dose: More Readmissions in Women than Men after Myocardial Infarction

Patient Care brings primary care clinicians a lot of medical news every day—it’s easy to miss an important study.

The Daily Dose provides a concise summary of one of the website's leading stories you may not have seen.

On October 17, 2022, we reviewed a study published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology, that examined whether disparities continue to exist in processes of care and clinical outcomes among patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

The study

Investigators compared trends in comorbidities, angiographic findings, and revascularization rates among 38 071 patients (21.1% women) aged 18-55 years hospitalized from April 1, 2009, to March 31, 2019, in Ontario. The primary outcome was 1-year all-cause mortality or readmission for unstable angina, AMI, heart failure, or stroke.

Clinical implications

"Possible strategies to avoid early readmissions among women could include increased referral rates to cardiac rehabilitation programs, including home-based programs, and those programs offering access to peer support groups," wrote researchers. "Furthermore, increasing the number of follow-ups and ensuring an early follow-up (2 weeks) after discharge for AMI may reduce the number of early readmissions or emergency room visits."

Click here for the full study review.