High BP Tied to One in Eight Emergency Visits for Cardiovascular Issues

MONDAY, Sept. 26, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- There are significant sex differences in disease distribution, hospitalization, and death among U.S. emergency department presentations for cardiovascular encounters, according to a study published online Sept. 8 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Zahra Raisi-Estabragh, from Queen Mary University London, and colleagues analyzed 20.6 million primary cardiovascular encounters from the U.S. Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (2016 to 2018) to examine sex‐differential disease patterns and outcomes.

The researchers found that for women, the most common emergency department encounters were essential hypertension (16 percent), hypertensive heart or kidney disease (14.1 percent), and atrial fibrillation/flutter (10.2 percent). For men, the most common encounters were hypertensive heart or kidney disease (14.7 percent), essential hypertension (10.8 percent), and acute myocardial infarction (10.7 percent). Women were more likely to present with essential hypertension, hypertensive crisis, atrial fibrillation/flutter, supraventricular tachycardia, pulmonary embolism, or ischemic stroke. Women with intracranial hemorrhage had a higher risk for hospitalization and death than men in an adjusted analysis, but women presenting with pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis were less likely to be hospitalized. Hospitalization and death were higher in women versus men with aortic aneurysm/dissection. Men were more likely to die following presentations with hypertensive heart or kidney disease, atrial fibrillation/flutter, acute myocardial infarction, or cardiac arrest.

"Our work with this large, nationally representative sample of cardiovascular emergency visits highlights differences in health care needs of men and women, which may be useful to inform planning and provision of health care services," a coauthor said in a statement.

Abstract/Full Text