Gender differences in the decline of mortality rates of acute myocardial infarction in West Germany.

In Germany in 1994, 86,915 people died from acute myocardial infarction; 56.3% of these cases were male. The corresponding mortality rates per 100,000 were 116.1 in men and 87.9 in women. The male-female mortality ratio in 1994 was most pronounced for males aged 45-54 years with a relative risk of 5.7 (95% CI, 5.2 to 6.2). The mean age of death was 70.5 years in men and 78.6 years in women, reflecting a difference of 8.1 years. In both genders, mortality rates of acute myocardial infarction in the former Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) started to decline in 1980. This decline summed up to -37.8% (95% CI, -38.9 to -36.8) in men and -25.7% (95% CI, -27.1 to -24.3) in women until 1994. The difference in gender-specific decline was significant. The steepest decline was achieved for men in the 25-44 year age group and for middle-aged women of 45-64 years. An increase could be observed for both genders over 85 years. The mean age of death from myocardial infarction, however, increased in the same time period by 2 years in men and 4 years in women.