Heart attack victims over age 65 are less likely than younger patients to receive timely percutaneous coronary intervention to open their blocked heart arteries, according to preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association’s Quailty of Care and Outcomes Research Scientific Sessions 2019, a premier global exchange of the latest advances in quality of care and outcomes research in cardiovascular disease and stroke for researchers, healthcare professionals and policymakers.
In the study, older heart attack patients suffered more complications, such as shock and heart failure, had longer hospital stays and an increased chance of death. Despite staying in the hospital on average a half-day longer, older patients had lower total charges, something the researchers said could be attributed to the lack of undergoing more costly interventions such as percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).