Reduced quality of life after myocardial infarction in women compared with men

Abstract

SummaryBackground: Psychosocial factors have been suggested as risk factors for atherosclerotic disease.Hypothesis: The purpose of the present study was to examine whether there is a gender difference in quality of life after a myocardial infarction with modern treatment of acute ischemic heart disease.Methods: In all, 123 men and women aged between 31 and 80 years, and with a hospital-diagnosed myocardial infarction occurring 1-12 months prior to inclusion, were studied. Minor symptoms evaluation profile (MSEP) was used to estimate quality of life at entry.Results: Age, hemodynamic data, smoking habits, as well as laboratory data, concomitant cardiovascular disease, and revascularization rate did not differ between men and women. Women had significantly more negative feelings regarding all the estimated dimensions of quality of life (Contentment, Vitality, and Sleep) than did men.Conclusion: Self-assessed quality of life after a myocardial infarction was significantly lower among women than among men despite similar age, treatment, and hemodynamic and laboratory data. The causal relationship is however, not known. Further studies are needed to evaluate the underlying

Cluster analysis: a useful technique to identify elderly cardiac patients at risk for poor quality of life

“…Although some demographic factors, such as female gender and younger age were reported as predictors of low quality of life and psychological recovery in previous studies [24][25][26], we did not find any difference in demographic factors among the three sub-groups. From the medical history, the Weary group had the highest percentage with a history of diabetes, hypertension, and comorbidity, but the percentage of CABG and cardiac rehabilitation referral was not different between the three groups.…”

Patient-Reported Health Status in Coronary Heart Disease in the United States

“…Previous studies using various HRQoL measures have consistently found that women with CHD had poorer HRQoL. [25][26][27][28][29] In addition, McCollum et al 29 found that after adjustment for sociodemographic and comorbid factors, women with diabetes had higher self-rated health compared with men with diabetes, despite having similar or poorer HRQoL as measured by the SF-12 MCS and PCS in MEPS. It appears that these paradoxical results suggest some differences between self-rated health and objective health measures.…”

Gender and quality of life and coping over one year after myocardial infarction: do men really have the upper hand?

“…Numerous reports confirmed worse QoL in women after MI compared to men of the same age, and although QoL improves with time in both genders, this effect is more pronounced in men [3][4][5]. Some differences have also been noted in relation to QoL dimension, with some studies indicating that the improvement in men mostly involves the physical dimension of QoL [6].…”