Sex difference in long-term clinical outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention: A propensity-matched analysis of National Health Insurance data in Republic of Korea

Objective: We investigated the gender difference in the 5-year outcome after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) using an unselected population data.

Background: Sex-specific outcome after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is not consistent among studies.

Methods: A total of 48,783 patients were enrolled from a Korean nationwide cohort of PCI in year 2011. Outcomes adjusted with age and propensity for clinical characteristics were compared. Primary outcome was 5-year cumulative incidence of all-cause death. Nonfatal major adverse clinical event (MACE) consisting of revascularization, shock, or stroke was also assessed.

Results: In unadjusted analysis, women were older and had higher frequency of comorbidities including hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes compared to men (p < .001, all). Women had higher 5-year death risk than men (21.8 vs. 17.3%; hazard ratio [HR] 1.29, 95% confidential interval [CI] 1.23-1.34). In propensity score-matched analysis (N = 28,924), women had lower 5-year death risk (20.2 vs. 26.1%, HR 0.75, 95% CI 0.71-0.78). This lower death risk in women was consistent in subgroup analyses of age, risk factors, and clinical diagnosis including angina or acute myocardial infarction (p < .05, all).

Conclusions: Older age and more common comorbidities in women contributed to the apparent worse outcome after PCI in women. After adjusting these disadvantages, women had better outcome after PCI than men.