Women less likely to survive a cardiac arrest than men

Women who suffer cardiac arrest outside of hospital are less likely to be resuscitated by a bystander and more likely to die than men, new research suggests.

A s t u dy, p u b l i s h e d i n t h e E u r o p e a n H e a r t J o u r n a l , found inequalities in the treatment of women and in their sur vival rates at ever y stage of care.

P e o p l e m a y n o t s p o t t h e early signs of cardiac arrest a s q u i c k l y i n w o m e n , t h e researchers sug gest, which could be leading to delays in calling emergency ser vices and getting appropriate help.

The researchers, led by Dr Hanno Tan at the Universi - t y of Amsterdam, analysed d a t a f r o m a l l r e s u s c i t a t i o n attempts made by emergency services in one part of The Netherlands b et ween 2006 and 2012. During this period, there were 5,717 out- of-hospital cardiac arrests, which occur when the heart goes into an irregular rhythm and then stops beating. Hear t attacks are one of the most common causes.

Around 68 per cent of wome n who ex p e r i e n c e d c a r d i - a c a r r e s t o u t s i d e o f h o s p i - t a l r e c e ive d a r e s us c i t a t i o n a t t e mp t f r o m a b y s t a n d e r, compared to 73 p er cent of men, the study found. Meanwhile, around 12.5 per cent of women who were resuscitated sur vived to be discharged from hospital, compared to 20 per cent of men.

T h e r e s e a r c h e r s s a i d t h i s i s p a r t l y ex p l a i n e d by l ow - er rates of sho ckable initial rhythm among women suffering cardiac arrest when they were reached by emergency services.

Only a third of women had a s h o c k a b l e i n i t i a l r hy t h m w h e n t h e y we r e a s s e s s e d , compared to more than half of men, the study found.

Dr Tan said: “Given the short window available to save the life of the patient, every minute in this early phase counts. People may be less aware that cardiac arrest can occur as often in women as in men. Women may have symptoms of an impending heart attack that are less easy to interpret, such as fatigue, fainting, vomiting and neck or jaw pain, whereas men are more likely to report t y p i c a l c o mpl a i n t s s u c h a s chest pain.”

Sara Askew, head of survival at the British Heart Foundation, said: “This new insight is particularly worr ying, given that we already know that wo me n wh o h ave s u f f e r e d a hear t attack are less likely to receive appropriate treatment.”

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