title: Age- and sex-related utilisation of cardiac procedures and interventions: a multicentric study in Italy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cardiovascular diseases represent the leading cause of death in Italy and one of the most frequent cause of disability in the elderly. The aim of the study was to investigate the influence of age and sex of patient on the utilisation of cardiac procedure and interventions in Italy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective analysis of 2805 patients' medical case notes in cardiology, internal medicine and elderly clinics in six Italian Regions during the period 1996-1997, considering coronary catheterisation (CC), percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PCTA), coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), thrombolysis (THR) and permanent pacemaker (PPM) implantation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Older patients (more than 75 years old) were less likely to undergo CC (OR=0.062). Trends for age and sex did not achieve significance for CAGB (OR=0.815 for older patient). Age is a strong predictor of receiving PTCA, with the oldest group of patients being discriminated (OR=0.093 for people older than 75 years), and the same trend was observed for THR (OR=0.264 for patients older than 75 years). For PPM, older patient has a higher likelihood of receiving this type of intervention (OR=3.45 for 65-74 years, and OR=7.77 for patients older than 75 years). As far as gender of patients is concerned, statistically significant differences for all cardiac procedures or interventions considered were not found.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Clinical management of older patients with cardiac disease in Italy may be different from that of younger patients. One possible explanation would be that these patients are being discriminated against mainly because of their age.
authors.affiliation: University of Rome La Sapienza, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Boccia
authors.forename: Gianfranco
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Damiani
authors.forename: Marcello Maria
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: D'Errico
authors.forename: Edoardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Farinaro
authors.forename: Pasquale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gregorio
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nante
authors.forename: Pasquale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Santè
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Siliquini
authors.forename: Gualtiero
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ricciardi
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: La Torre
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Villari
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Boccia
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sirianni
authors.forename: Saverio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stranges
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Simioli
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Garramone
authors.forename: Rosario
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gregario
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Minniti
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010138:Pacemaker, Artificial / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D015912:Thrombolytic Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*