(CNN) More than 8,200 women in England and Wales could have survived heart attacks over the course of a decade had they received the same quality care as men, research says.

The research, part funded by the British Heart Foundation and published in the journal Heart, revealed that women were less likely than men to receive guideline care for heart attacks.

Scientists at the University of Leeds found that women in the UK had more than double the median rate of death than men in the 30 days after heart attacks. Their findings revealed that 5.2% of women died in the same period after a heart attack, compared with only 2.3% of men, representing a 2.26-fold increase in relative risk of death.

"We know women are dying due to unequal heart attack care -- and now we've identified the shortfalls we need to target to save lives," said Chris Gales, professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Leeds and senior author of the report.

"We need to tackle the false perception that heart attacks are only a male health issues," added Nilesh Samani, medical director of the British Heart Foundation. "This leads to inadequate care for women -- both at the time of and after heart attacks -- with fatal consequences."

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