Older Women Are More Likely to Die Following Heart Bypass Surgery

Women over 65 years of age who undergo complex heart surgery are more likely than men to receive care at low-quality hospitals, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.

“Nationwide, women are both more likely to die after heart bypass surgery and more likely to undergo surgery at low-quality hospitals,” said Catherine M. Wagner, MD, MSc, first author and an integrated thoracic surgery resident at University of Michigan Health, via a press release.

The study consisted of nearly 450,000 Medicare beneficiaries who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting, or heart bypass surgery, between late 2015 and early 2020. The results showed that compared with men, women were 1.26 times more likely to be treated at low-quality hospitals, facilities with the highest 30-day mortality rates. At those low-quality facilities, women died in 7% of overall cases and men died nearly 5% of the time. This sex disparity in mortality doubled from high-quality to low-quality hospitals, the researchers noted.

“It is known that women have a higher mortality rate for this procedure,” said Dr. Wagner, “and 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 surgery.”