Abstract 2208: Sex Differences in Ischemic Stroke Mortality

• Published in: Stroke (1970) 2012-02, Vol.43 (suppl_1)
• Main Authors: McKinney, James S, Deng, Yingzi, Paolucci, Ugo, Kostis, John B
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0039-2499; 1524-4628
• DOI: 10.1161/str.43.suppl_1.A2208

Abstract only Introduction--- Stroke is becoming increasingly more prevalent in women. Prior studies of sex differences in stroke mortality have reported variable findings. Although crude stroke fatality is higher in women, this appears to be mediated by age and other baseline differences. We hypothesized that no differences existed between genders in in-hospital and longer term mortality, as well as in cause of death, after stroke admission. Methods--- We used the Myocardial Infarction Data Acquisition System (MIDAS) database, which includes demographic and clinical data on patients discharged with a primary diagnosis of cerebral infarction from all non-federal acute care hospitals in New Jersey between 1996 and 2007. Out-of-hospital deaths were assessed by matching MIDAS records with New Jersey death registration files. In-hospital, 1-year, and interval (discharge to 1-year) mortality were calculated. Total, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and non-CVD mortality were calculated. Multivariate logistic and Cox regression models were used to measure the effect of sex on in-hospital, 1-year, and interval mortality after adjusting for demographics, comorbidities, hospital type, year of admission, and treatment. Statistical significance was defined as a P -value ≤ 0.01. Results--- 134,441 patients (54.8% female) were admitted with a primary diagnosis of cerebral infarction during the study period. Women were on average 5.1 years older than men. Although the average Charlson Index was lower for women, hypertension, atrial fibrillation, congestive heart failure, dementia, and connective tissue disorders were all more common (p