Older women are more likely to die following heart bypass surgery than men, possibly due to where they get the procedure Women older than 65 are more likely to have their surgery at a low-quality hospital Women die at higher rates than men in these low-quality hospitals FRIDAY, July 12, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Older women are more likely than older men to die following heart bypass surgery, possibly due to the quality of the hospitals where they undergo the procedure, a new study says. Women older than 65 are 26% more likely than men to undergo the surgery at a low-quality hospital, defined as a hospital with a high rate of patient deaths in the month following their treatment, researchers said. Women died in 7% of cases at these low-quality hospitals, compared to 5% of cases in men, results show.
What’s more, the gender disparity in deaths after a heart bypass doubles when comparing high-quality and low-quality hospitals, researchers say. “Nationwide, women are both more likely to die after heart bypass surgery and more likely to undergo surgery at low quality hospitals,” lead researcher , an integrated thoracic surgery resident at University of Michigan Health, said in a news release. “It is known that women have a higher [death] rate for this procedure,” Wagner said.
“Our findings suggest a major need for improvement at low quality hospitals, as well as more equitable referral of women to high quality hospitals to narrow the gap we are seeing after high-risk s.