Aims Several studies have reported that women with coronary heart disease have a poorer prognosis than men. Psychosocial factors, including social isolation and depressive symptoms have been suggested as a possible cause. However. little is known; about these factors and their independent predictive value in women. Therefore, we investigated the prognostic impact of depression, lack of social integration and their interaction in the Stockholm Female Coronary Risk Study. Methods and Results Two hundred and ninety-two women patients aged 30 to 65 years and admitted for an acute coronary event between 1991 and 1994, were followed for 5 years from baseline assessments, which were performed between 3 and 6 months after admission. Lack of social integration and depressive symptoms, assessed at baseline by standardized questionnaires, were associated with recurrent events. including cardiovascular mortality, acute myocardial infarction and revascularization procedures (percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty and coronary artery bypass grafting). Adjusting for age, diagnosis at index event. symptoms of heart failure, diabetes mellitus, high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, history of hypertension, systolic blood pressure, smoking, sedentary lifestyle, body mass index, and severity of angina pectoris symptoms. the hazard ratio associated with low (lowest quartile) as compared to high social integration (upper quartile) was 2.3 (95% CI 1.2-4.5) and the hazard ratio associated with two or more (upper three quartiles) as compared to one or no depressive symptoms was 1.9 (95% CI 1.02-3 6). Conclusions The presence of two or more depressive symptoms and lack of social integration independently predicted recurrent cardiac events in women with coronary heart disease. Women who were free of both these risk factors, had the best prognosis. (C) 2000 The European Society of Cardiology.
Aims Social relations have been repeatedly linked to coronary heart disease in men, even after careful control for standard risk factors. Women have rarely been studied and results have not been conclusive. We investigated the role of social support in the severity and extent of coronary artery disease in women. Methods and Results One hundred and thirty-one women, aged 30 to 65 years, who were hospitalized for an acute coronary event and were included in the Stockholm Female Coronary Risk Study, were examined with computer assisted quantitative coronary angiography. Angiographic measures included presence of stenosis greater than 50% in at least one coronary artery (severity) and the number of stenoses greater than 20% within the coronary tree (extent). Social factors included two measures of social support, which were previously shown to predict coronary disease in prospective studies of men. After adjustment for age, lack of social support was associated with both measures of coronary artery disease. With further adjustment for smoking, education, menopausal status, hypertension, high density lipoprotein and body mass index, the risk ratio for stenosis greater than 50% in women with poor as compared to those with strong social support was 2.5 (95% confidence interval 1.2 to 5.3; P=0.003). Also, women with poor social support had more stenoses obstructing at least 20% of the coronary lumen with multivariate adjustment, but the difference from women with strong support was only of borderline significance (P=0.09). Conclusion The findings suggest that lack of social support contributes to the severity of coronary artery disease in women, independent of standard risk factors.
Aims: To describe out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in Sweden from a long-term perspective in terms of changes in outcome and circumstances at resuscitation.
Methods and results: All cases of OHCA (n = 59 926) reported to the Swedish Cardiac Arrest Register from 1992 to 2011 were included. The number of cases reported (n/100 000 person-years) increased from 27 (1992) to 52 (2011). Crew-witnessed cases, cardiopulmonary resuscitation prior to the arrival of the emergency medical service (EMS), and EMS response time increased (P < 0.0001). There was a decrease in the delay from collapse to calling for the EMS in all patients and from collapse to defibrillation among patients found in ventricular fibrillation (P< 0.0001). The proportion of patients found in ventricular fibrillation decreased from 35 to 25% (P < 0.0001). Thirty-day survival increased from 4.8 (1992) to 10.7% (2011) (P < 0.0001), particularly among patients found in a shockable rhythm and patients with return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) at hospital admission. Among patients hospitalized with ROSC in 2008–2011, 41% underwent therapeutic hypothermia and 28% underwent percutaneous coronary intervention. Among 30-day survivors in 2008–2011, 94% had a cerebral performance category score of 1 or 2 at discharge from hospital and the results were even better if patients were found in a shockable rhythm.
Conclusion: From a long-term perspective, 30-day survival after OHCA in Sweden more than doubled. The increase in survival was most marked among patients found in a shockable rhythm and those hospitalized with ROSC. There were improvements in all four links in the chain of survival, which might explain the improved outcome.