Sex and gender are distinct constructs, and the derived gender index offers a current and pragmatic option to measure gender within ACS populations. Our results further suggest that traditional sex differences in cardiovascular disease risk factors may be partly explained by patient's gender-related characteristics.

Little is known about whether sex differences in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) presentation exist in young patients and what factors determine absence of chest pain in ACS presentation.OBJECTIVES To evaluate sex differences in ACS presentation and to estimate associations between sex, sociodemographic, gender identity, psychosocial and clinical factors, markers of coronary disease severity, and absence of chest pain in young patients with ACS. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTSWe conducted a prospective cohort study of 1015 patients (30% women) 55 years or younger, hospitalized for ACS and enrolled in the GENESIS PRAXY (Gender and Sex Determinants of Cardiovascular Disease: From Bench to Beyond Premature Acute Coronary Syndrome) study (January 2009-September 2012). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The McSweeney Acute and Prodromal MyocardialInfarction Symptom Survey was administered during hospitalization. RESULTSThe median age for both sexes was 49 years. Women were more likely to have non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (37.5 vs 30.7; P = .03) and present without chest pain compared with men (19.0% vs 13.7%; P = .03). Patients without chest pain reported fewer symptoms overall and no discernable pattern of non-chest pain symptoms was found. In the multivariate model, being a woman (odds ratio [OR], 1.95 [95% CI, 1.23-3.11]; P = .005) and tachycardia (OR, 2.07 [95% CI, 1.20-3.56]; P = .009) were independently associated with ACS presentation without chest pain. Patients without chest pain did not differ significantly from those with chest pain in terms of ACS type, troponin level elevation, or coronary stenosis.CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Chest pain was the most common ACS symptom in both sexes. Although women were more likely to present without chest pain than men, absence of chest pain was not associated with markers of coronary disease severity. Strategies that explicitly incorporate assessment of common non-chest pain symptoms need to be evaluated.

Among younger adults with acute coronary syndrome, women and men had different access to care. Moreover, fewer than half of men and women with ST-segment elevation MI received timely primary coronary intervention. Our results also highlight that men and women with no chest pain and those with anxiety, several traditional risk factors and feminine personality traits were at particularly increased risk of poorer access to care.

Younger adults with ACS with feminine gender are at an increased risk of recurrent ACS over 12 months, independent of female sex.

The prevalence of depression post-MI was higher in women than in men, but the association between depression and cardiac prognosis was worse for men. LVEF was associated with depression in men only and accounted for the increased risk of all-cause mortality in depressed men versus women, suggesting that depression in men post-MI may, in part, reflect cardiovascular disease severity.

BackgroundLimited data exist as to the relative contribution of sex and gender on health‐related quality of life (HRQL) among patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). This study aims to evaluate the effect of sex and gender‐related variables on long‐term HRQL among young adults with ACS.Methods and ResultsGENESIS‐PRAXY (GENdEr and Sex determInantS of cardiovascular disease: from bench to beyond‐Premature Acute Coronary SYndrome) is a multicenter, prospective cohort study (January 2009 to August 2013) of adults aged 18 to 55 years, hospitalized with ACS. HRQL was measured at baseline, 1, 6, and 12 months using the Short Form‐12 and Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ) among 1213 patients. Median age was 49 years. Women reported worse HRQL than men over time post‐ACS, both in terms of physical and mental functioning. Gender‐related factors were more likely to be predictors of HRQL than sex. Femininity score, social support, and housework responsibility were the most common gender‐related predictors of HRQL at 12 months. We observed an interaction between female sex and social support (β=0.44 [95% confidence interval, 0.01, 0.88]; P=0.047) for the physical limitation subscale of the SAQ.ConclusionsYoung women with ACS report significantly poorer HRQL than young men. Gender appears to be more important than sex in predicting long‐term HRQL post‐ACS. Specific gender‐related factors, such as social support, may be amenable to interventions and could improve the HRQL of patients with premature ACS.

Patients with clinical levels of depression had worse FHR than patients without depression, irrespective of CHD status and after adjusting for covariates. Data extend previous findings, suggesting that the link between clinical depression and worse CHD outcomes may be mediated by EF.

Prior to ACS, women were more likely to experience prodromal symptoms and seek medical attention than men. Prehospital care was generally similar between sexes but demonstrated underutilisation of risk-reduction therapies in at-risk young adults.