Young Hispanic Women Experience Higher In‐Hospital Mortality Following an Acute Myocardial Infarction

BACKGROUND: Although mortality rates for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) have declined for men and women, prior studies have reported a sex gap in mortality such that younger women were most likely to die after an AMI. METHODS AND RESULTS: We sought to explore the impact of race and ethnicity on the sex gap in AMI patterns of care and mortality for younger women in a contemporary patient cohort. We constructed multivariable hierarchical logistic regression models to examine trends in AMI hospitalizations, procedures, and in-hospital mortality by sex, age (<65 and ≥65 years), and race/ethnicity (white, black, and Hispanic). Analyses were derived from 194 071 patients who were hospitalized for an AMI with available race and ethnicity data from the 2009-2010 National Inpatient Sample. Hospitalization rates, procedures (coronary angiography, percutaneous coronary interventions, and cardiac bypass surgery), and inpatient mortality were analyzed across age, sex, and race/ethnic groups. There was significant variation in hospitalization rates by age and race/ethnicity. All racial/ethnic groups were less likely to undergo invasive procedures compared with white men (P<0.001). After adjustment for comorbidities, younger Hispanic women experienced higher in-hospital mortality compared with younger white men, with an odds ratio of 1.5 (95% CI 1.2 to 1.9), adjusted for age and comorbidities. CONCLUSION: We found significant racial and sex disparities in AMI hospitalizations, care patterns, and mortality, with higher in-hospital mortality experienced by younger Hispanic women. Future studies are necessary to explore determinants of these significant racial and sex disparities in outcomes for AMI.