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Examining Heart Attacks in Young Women

Completed
Conditions
Acute Myocardial Infarction
Registration Number
NCT00597922
Lead Sponsor
Yale University
Brief Summary

Heart disease and heart attacks pose a serious health risk to young women, and women tend to experience less successful recoveries after a heart attack than men do. This study will examine various factors that may predispose women to heart attacks and to poor recovery after a heart attack. The differences between men and women in the medical care that they receive following a heart attack will also be studied.

Detailed Description

Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in women 55 years and younger, accounting for more than 8,000 deaths each year in the United States. Approximately 40,000 young women are hospitalized each year in the United States as a result of a heart attack. Research has shown that young women who have heart attacks are twice as likely to die in the hospital as young men who have heart attacks. While there has been an increase in awareness, little research has been conducted on understanding heart disease and heart attacks in young women. Specific biologic markers involved with inflammation, metabolic abnormalities, sex hormones, and genetics may indicate a predisposition to a heart attack and poor recovery. This study will analyze the biologic, demographic, psychosocial, environmental, and behavioral factors that may contribute to premature heart disease and to poor recovery after a heart attack in women. Researchers will examine if delays in receiving medical care following a heart attack can affect recovery and health outcomes for women. Gender differences in outcomes and the quality of medical care that is received following a heart attack will also be examined.

This study will enroll women and men who are hospitalized following a possible heart attack. At study entry, participants will be interviewed to collect information about symptoms, functioning, quality of life, and medical care. A medical record review will also occur. At 1 month after admission from the hospital, an interview will occur via phone and a blood sample will be collected when the participant returns to the hospital or alternatively be collected at a medical clinic convenient to the participant. Another telephone interview will occur at 12 months. Participants' blood samples will be stored for future biologic and genetic studies.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
2985
Inclusion Criteria
  • Elevated cardiac markers within 24 hours of arrival at initial or enrolling institution
  • Supporting evidence suggestive of a heart attack
Exclusion Criteria
  • Previously enrolled in the VIRGO study
  • Does not speak English or Spanish
  • Too ill to interview
  • Current prisoner

Study & Design

Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Study Design
Not specified
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod

Trial Locations

Locations (92)

University of Alabama at Birmingham

🇺🇸

Birmingham, Alabama, United States

Providence Hospital

🇺🇸

Mobile, Alabama, United States

Sharp Gross Hospital

🇺🇸

La Mesa, California, United States

Saddleback Memorial Medical Center

🇺🇸

Laguna Hills, California, United States

Long Beach Memorial Medical Center

🇺🇸

Long Beach, California, United States

University of Southern California

🇺🇸

Los Angeles, California, United States

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center/PRCC Cardiology Research

🇺🇸

Los Angeles, California, United States

Memorial Medical Center (Sutter Gould Medical Foundation)

🇺🇸

Modesto, California, United States

Sutter Medical Center Sacramento

🇺🇸

Sacramento, California, United States

Mercy General Hospital

🇺🇸

Sacramento, California, United States

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University of Alabama at Birmingham
🇺🇸Birmingham, Alabama, United States

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