Women made up 31.5% of heart attack patients in France
Women accounted for 31.5% of adults hospitalized for heart attacks in France in 2016–2022, compared with 51.5% of the general population.
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
Researchers analyzed records for all 672,186 adults hospitalized for acute heart attacks in France from 2016 to 2022 in a retrospective observational study. Women’s share remained stable over time but ranged from 19.2% among patients younger than 40 to 63.6% among those older than 90. Women were older than men at presentation: 73.8 versus 65.9 years.
Women underwent procedures to restore blood flow to the heart less often than men: 52.0% versus 68.8%. Before accounting for starting differences, women had higher rates of death from any cause at discharge, 30 days and one year. After researchers matched patients on age and other starting characteristics, one-year death rates were similar in women and men who underwent those procedures: 9.7% versus 9.8%. Among matched patients without those procedures, one-year death rates were lower in women: 23.5% versus 27.8% in men.
Why it matters
For heart attacks, accounting for age matters when assessing whether research populations adequately represent women and when interpreting differences in survival.
Caveats
This observational study could not establish why care or survival differed between women and men. It covered hospitalized adults in France, not all people with heart attacks, and was reported as a congress abstract.
The paper
Hospital Bichat-Claude Bernard
ESC Congress 2026 Abstract, Oct 26, 2026
Presented at ESC Congress 2026
