A new study suggests that women are less likely than men to get proper care after being hospitalized for heart attack and twice as likely as men to die in the hospital.

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles and elsewhere looked at data of 25,000 patients with severe heart attacks and 78,000 patients in all. The participants were admitted to 420 hospitals between 2001 and 2006. The hospitals are enrolled in a program that follows the latest guidelines for treatments shown to work in clinical trials.

The study, which was led by a Baylor College of Medicine cardiologist, found that women who suffered a type of heart attack called a ST-elevation myocardial infarction, or STEMI, had a 12 percent higher risk of dying in the hospital than men. This type of heart attack is usually caused by complete occlusion of arteries; it requires immediate treatment to get the artery opened. According to the study, about 5 percent of men suffering from ST-elevation myocardial infarction died compared to 10 percent of women. During the first 24 hours of hospitalization, women with STEMI were about twice as likely to die as men.

Previous studies have also shown that women are less likely to survive heart attacks than men. Experts say that women tend to develop heart disease at a more advanced age and they are more likely to suffer complicating ailment such as diabetes and lung disease. The results of the Baylor study have also revealed that women with heart attack tended to be older and have more chronic medical problems than men.

The researchers found that women were 14 percent less likely than men to be treated with aspirin and 10 percent less likely to be treated with beta-blockers, they were 10 percent less likely to be given beta blocker drugs, 25 percent less likely to receive reperfusion therapy to restore blood flow, and 13 percent less likely to have artery-opening angioplasty soon after arriving at the hospital.

After taking into account factors such as age and other risk factors, the researchers said women in the study were 12 percent more likely to die. On average, the women were eight years older than the men at the time of their heart attacks (age 72 compared to 64) and were more likely to have heart-related health problems such as diabetes, heart failure and high blood pressure.

Classical symptoms of acute myocardial infarction include sudden chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, palpitations, sweating. Women may experience fewer symptoms than men. Heart attack is No.1 killer for both men and women all over the world.

The researchers say this study is a “call to action” and that more efforts need to be done to improve care and outcome. The study appears in the latest issue of Circulation: The Journal of the American Heart Association.