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.