Diagnosis blunders put women at greater risk after a heart attack

WOMEN are 50 per cent more likely to receive the wrong diagnosis after a heart attack than men, research has revealed.

Doctors found that 29.9 per cent, or nearly 200,000, of those who suffered a heart attack in England and Wales between April 2004 and March 2013 were initially misdiagnosed. Of this number, there were 50 per cent more women than men.

The University of Leeds research published today in the European Heart Journal Acute Cardiovascular Care adds that people who were misdiagnosed had about a 70 per cent increased risk of death after 30 days compared with those who had received a consistent diagnosis.

Dr Chris Gale, associate professor of cardiovascular health sciences at the university, said perceptions that overweight middle-aged men are more likely to have heart attacks is partly to blame.

He said: “This research clearly shows that women are at a higher risk of being misdiagnosed following a heart attack than men. When people with a heart attack receive the wrong initial diagnosis, there are potentially important clinical repercussions, including an increased risk of death.

“We need to work harder to shift the perception that heart attacks only affect a certain type of person.”

Around 28,000 women die from heart attacks each year in the UK – or 77 a day.