Men more vulnerable than women after stroke

By Martha Kerr

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Among stroke sufferers, men are
typically younger than women but they don’t fare as well.

At the American Heart Association’s 7th Scientific Forum on
Quality of Care and Outcomes Research that is being held in
Washington, D.C., Dr. Allan L. Anderson presented a study of
56,417 stroke patients admitted to 166 hospitals between
January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2004.

Anderson, of Medical City Dallas Hospital, Texas, reported
that the average age at the time of stroke was 73 years in
women and 67 years for men.

The use of clot-busting therapy was low overall,
administered to only 1.28 percent of women and 1.70 percent of
men.

Despite being younger, men were more likely to develop
pneumonia or die after a stroke, Anderson noted. However, if
they survived, men were more likely to be discharged to home
than were women.

The same trend regarding ‘discharge home’ has been seen in
studies of other illnesses such as heart attacks or after
various procedures, Anderson commented. “An explanation is
lacking; whether fewer women are immediately discharged to home
is the result of biological or socioeconomic reasons would be
purely speculative.”

Anderson told Reuters Health that data from this study also
do not explain why men have worse stroke outcomes. “Those
answers would have to be forthcoming from additional focused
studies that have more clinical details than were available
from our administrative data set,” he explained.