Abstract 164: Impact of Sex and Race on the Likelihood of Mortality, Cardiology Consultation, and Coronary Angiography Among Hospitalized Patients Evaluated With Cardiac Troponin

Abstract

Introduction: Serum troponin (Tn) is a highly sensitive test useful in diagnosing acute myocardial infarction. Elevated Tn is associated with higher mortality and greater use of cardiovascular services. The effect of sex and race on these observations has not been well characterized. We hypothesize that sex and race will be independent predictors of cardiology consultation and cardiac catheterization. Methods: We analyzed adult patients hospitalized between 2012 and 2015 who had Tn testing. Patients were compared in 2 cohorts: those with and those without elevation in Tn. We extracted data on demographics, self-reported race, medical history, new inpatient diagnoses, Charlson comorbidity index (CCI), and mortality (up to 3 years). We developed a Cox proportional hazard model for mortality and used logistic regression to determine associations with cardiology consultation and cardiac catheterization. Results: Of the 26,663 included, 22.0% were black, 50.1% were women, 9.8% had diabetes, and 6.4% had pre-existing coronary disease. Cardiac catheterization was performed on 1,800 (6.8%), 3,672 (13.8%) had a cardiology consult, and 4,962 (18.6%) had elevated Tn. Among the variables associated with cardiology consultation were elevated Tn (odds ratio [OR] =3.44, 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.19-3.72, p<0.0001), male sex (OR=1.29, 95% CI 1.20-1.39, p<0.0001) and black race (OR=0.85, 95% CI 0.77-0.93, p=0.0006). Cardiac catheterization was associated with elevated Tn (OR=8.16, 95% CI 7.34-9.06, p<0.0001), male sex (OR=1.45, 95% CI 1.31-1.61, p<0.0001), CCI >4 (OR=0.44, 95% CI 0.35-0.54, p<0.0001), and black race (OR=0.72, 95% CI 0.63-0.82, p<0.0001). A total of 4,697 patients died during follow-up. Elevated Tn (hazard ratio [HR] =2.05, p<0.0001), male sex (HR=1.14, p<0.0001), and CCI >4 (HR=3.33, p<0.0001) were associated with a higher risk of death, while risk among black patients was lower (HR=0.86, p<0.0001). Conclusion: As observed in other investigations, elevated Tn is associated with a higher risk of mortality, cardiac catheterization, and cardiology consultation. We observed that men were more likely to undergo catheterization and consultation, while black patients were less likely to have either. Further investigation into reasons for the observed disparities is warranted.