Hitherto, sudden cardiac death (SCD) in the young has been described with no distinction between genders. SCD occurs more often in men (SCDm) than women (SCDw), but this disparity is not understood and has not been investigated systematically in a nationwide setting. Our objective was to report gender differences in SCD in the young in a nationwide (Denmark) setting.
All deaths in persons aged 1-35 years nationwide in Denmark between 2000 and 2009 were included. Death certificates and autopsy reports were obtained. The extensive health care registries in Denmark were used to investigate any known disease prior to death. SCDw were compared to SCDm.
During the 10-year study period there were a total of 8756 deaths in 23.7 million person-years. In total, 635 deaths were SCD. SCDw constituted 205 deaths (32%). Women had a higher proportion of witnessed deaths (51 vs. 41%, p?=?0.02) and died less often in a public place (16 vs. 26%, p?=?0.01). Age at death, ratios of autopsies and sudden unexplained deaths, and comorbidities, did not differ. Causes of SCD were largely comparable between genders. The incidence rate of SCDw was half of that of SCDm (1.8 vs. 3.6 per 100,000 person-years, incidence rate ratio 2.0 (95% CI 1.7-2.4), p?
Notes
Cites: Ann Intern Med. 2001 Nov 6;135(9):801-1111694105
Cites: Circulation. 1997 Jan 7;95(1):252-648994444
Cites: Cell. 2015 Mar 26;161(1):106-1825815989
Cites: J Am Coll Cardiol. 2004 Sep 15;44(6):1268-7515364331
Cites: N Engl J Med. 1999 Jun 10;340(23):1801-1110362825
Cites: Am Heart J. 2003 Oct;146(4):635-914564316
Cites: N Engl J Med. 1984 Nov 1;311(18):1144-76482932
Cites: Circulation. 2012 Jan 31;125(4):620-3722294707
Cites: Int J Legal Med. 2012 Mar;126(2):223-921779923
Cites: Circulation. 2001 Oct 30;104(18):2158-6311684624