Sex- and ethnic group-specific nationwide trends in the use of coronary artery bypass grafting in the United States.

Objective: This study examined nationwide trends in use of coronary artery bypass grafting between 1988 and 2004.

Methods: The Nationwide Inpatient Sample database was used to calculate age-adjusted rate of coronary artery bypass grafting from 1988 to 2004. Specific International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes for coronary artery bypass grafting were used to compile data. Patient demographic data were also analyzed.

Results: The database recorded 1,145,285 patients older than 40 years who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting from 1988 to 2004. Mean age was 60.21 +/- 10.55 years. Male patients underwent coronary artery bypass grafting more than twice as frequently as female patients (70.6% vs 29.4%). From 1988, total age-adjusted rate gradually increased for 10 years until 1997 (79.29 per 100,000 with 95% confidence interval 70.88-87.71 per 100,000 in 1988, 131.31 per 100,000 with 95% confidence interval 119.02-143.59 per 100,000 in 1997, P < .01), with ensuing rapid decline to nearly the lowest level at end of study in 2004 (83.01 per 100,000 with 95% confidence interval 75.68-90.33 per 100,000, P < .01). Although trends were similar across ethnicity and sex, female and ethnic minority patients had lower rates of bypass surgery than did male and white patients.

Conclusions: Use of coronary artery bypass grafting has decreased dramatically in recent years, with even lower use among female and ethnic minority patients. This decline may be related to significant advances in percutaneous coronary interventions and improved medical treatment of atherosclerosis in the past 10 years.