CVD Mortality Higher in Women Than Men With Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases

TUESDAY, May 13, 2025 (HealthDay News) — For patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID), cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality decreased from 1999 to 2020, but sex disparities persist, according to a research letter published online May 5 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

Issam Motairek, M.D., from the Cleveland Clinic, and colleagues analyzed the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Multiple Cause of Death files from 1999 to 2020 to identify CVD-related deaths with underlying IMIDs to examine sex differences in mortality. A total of 127,149 CVD-related deaths were analyzed out of 281,355 IMID-associated deaths.

The researchers found that for women, crude mortality rates decreased from 3.9 to 2.1 per 100,000, while for men, the decrease was from 1.7 to 1.2 per 100,000 during the same period. Age-adjusted mortality rates for women decreased from 3.3 to 1.4 per 100,000 from 1999 to 2020, while the rates decreased from 2.3 to 1.1 per 100,000 for men. Throughout the study period, women had a significantly higher mortality rate than men (mortality rate ratio, 1.5), reversing typical sex patterns. Significant declines were seen in mortality rates in both sexes, but women consistently exhibited higher mortality rates; these differences persisted while narrowing and were still significant in the final year of follow-up. Within the cohort, ischemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease were the main contributors to mortality, and both disproportionately affected women with IMIDs.

“Our study highlights the significant burden of cardiovascular disease in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases, which disproportionately affect women,” senior study author Heba S. Wassif, M.D., M.P.H., from the Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic, said in a press release. “It is critical to screen for and address cardiovascular risk factors early, at the time of diagnosis and periodically thereafter.”

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