RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Previous studies have suggested that in-hospital mortality is higher in younger women with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) than in men. However, more coronary artery disease diagnoses occurred in patients older than 60 years. AIM OF THE STUDY: This study sought to investigate the temporal trends and sex differences in revascularization and in-hospital outcomes in older STEMI patients. METHODS: National Inpatient Sample databases from 2005-2014 were utilized to identify all STEMI patients with age greater than 60 years old. We studied the temporal trends and sex differences in revascularization therapies and in-hospital mortality. RESULTS: From 2005-2014, there were 192,204 older adults diagnosed with STEMI. Older women with STEMI were less likely to receive reperfusion (percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) adjusted OR: 0.90; 95% CI: 0.87-0.92) compared to older men. Also, the adjusted odds ratio comparing the likelihood of receiving PCI between women and men decreased by an annual average of 0.9% (p = 0.028). Older women had higher in-hospital mortality than men (adjusted OR: 1.12; 95% CI: 1.08 to 1.17). There was no significant change of adjusted in-hospital mortality in both genders (all p >0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Older women were less likely to receive revascularization for STEMI, and this gap was increasing during the study period. Older women had higher in-hospital mortality as compared with older men, but there was no significant temporal change for both genders. These findings present an opportunity to bridge the gender-gap in providing care to older patients with STEMI.