United States: Scientists have found out that women who survive cardiac arrest are more likely to develop anxiety, depression and mental health issues than men and also the researchers have studied 259 women and 996 men in North Holland, the Netherlands, who survived cardiac arrest outside of hospitals.
They looked at the survivors’ mental health and economic situations over the period of five years. The study shows that women face more mental health challenges after such incidents, and more research is needed to understand why.
Mental Health and Economic Impact on Cardiac Arrest Survivors
The research team made the findings or researches by examining how the socioeconomic and mental health outcomes changed over five years for men and women who experienced out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). They studied 259 women and 996 men in the North Holland, the Netherlands, who survived 30 days after the cardiac arrest and incidents.
As reported by Medical Daily, the researchers analyzed changes in employment, income, primary earner status, and incidence of anxiety or depression among participants from the year before their cardiac arrest to five years after the incident, testing for differences between sexes.
“OHCA survivors who experience some changes in employment, income, and primary earner status similar to the general population. However, women who survived OHCA more often received anxiety/depression medication in the years following OHCA,” the researchers wrote in the study results which is published in the journal Circulation Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.
Findings on Employment and Income
This particular study has noted that the individuals who survive a cardiac arrest are more likely to face the issues regarding employment , jobs earnings. It actually showed a decline in the employment rates from almost 72.8 percent to 53.4 percent and for the women and 80.9% to 63.7% for men and a decrease in median income.
Call for More Research
“We saw significant decreases in employment rates and, consequently, earnings. Further, we also saw a change in ‘primary earner status’ – meaning that the member of a household who had the highest earnings frequently changed after a cardiac arrest. Suggesting that it was difficult for individuals to return to the labour market,” researcher Robin Smits, a doctoral student at Amsterdam University Medical Center, said in a news release.