Men and women have different death risks after stroke

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

In a new study, researchers found that women were 39% more likely to die by 1 year after a first stroke.

The sex difference was due to advanced age and more severe strokes in women.

The research was conducted by a team at Monash University.

The team found among women and men with a first-ever stroke, women were approximately 7 years older.

In addition, 9.3% fewer women could walk independently on admission to the hospital, suggestive of a more severe stroke.

Among those deceased by any cause, men had more deaths due to cancer (12% vs women 6%) and ischemic heart disease (8% vs women 6%) while women had more deaths attributed to stroke (50% vs men 41%) or other cardiovascular diseases (16% vs men 13%).

The findings showed that women had a 65% greater risk of death associated with stroke.

Not only were women more likely to be older at the first stroke and to have greater stroke severity, but they were also less likely to be treated with aspirin for secondary stroke prevention.

One author of the study is Dominique Cadilhac, Ph.D., School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health.

The study is published in the Journal of Women’s Health.

Copyright © 2020 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.