Background: To do a gender comparison of absolute risk of recurrent myocardial infarction (MI).
Design: Registration of all first and second MI amongst Icelandic males and females 1981-1999.
Methods: The whole of Icelandic population, 40-74 years of age.
Results: The mean recurrence rate (second attack) for men was 45.7/1000 MI survivors/year and for women 39.0/1000 per year. The male/female (M/F) ratio was 1.17, 95% confidence interval 1.00-1.37, P = 0.05 and did not change significantly with age. The M/F ratio for first MI in comparison was two to seven, lowest in the oldest group. The recurrence rate decreased significantly and similarly in both sexes during the observation period.
Conclusion: The absolute risk of MI is closely similar amongst both sexes and has decreased similarly suggesting that the same kind of secondary intervention is effective amongst both sexes in a general population.