CHICAGO (Reuters Health) - The added pressure of taking care of a house and family may be a determining factor in why women with heart disease have poorer quality of life than men, researchers have found.

"Quality of life among women with cardiac disease is significantly worse than for men, regardless of cardiac diagnosis, age, race, or cardiac risk factor profile," according to researchers led by psychologist Dr. Charles F. Emery of The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.

He presented the findings here Thursday at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association.

Increases in physical discomfort and emotional distress linked to illness can take a toll on individuals with heart disease. And while previous research has suggested this burden falls heavier on women than men, the reasons for this 'gender gap' have remained unclear.

In their study, Emery's team used a series of questionnaires to track the one-year quality of life of 410 male and female patients diagnosed with heart disease. The patients, who averaged 59.5 years of age, were assessed for changes in sadness, stress and physical activity, as well as their perception of the amount of support they were receiving from family and friends.

The investigators found that women tested lower than men in terms of both mental and physical quality-of-life scores throughout the complete 12 months of the study. They also found that a lower level of perceived support from loved ones was associated with declines in quality of life for women--but not for men.

Why might women be more affected by inadequate support in dealing with their illness? According to Emery and his colleagues, traditional gender roles dictate that older women take care of house and family--often on top of holding down a job. They speculate these added pressures may leave women diagnosed with heart disease especially ill-prepared to cope with the effects of their illness. The active, caring support of family and friends may therefore be "more relevant for quality of life among women than among men," the researchers conclude.

"Women are returning to a home environment and a work environment where their demands haven't changed that much," Emery said at the meeting. "Strategies for increasing levels of support--especially companionship--among women with heart disease may be important in enhancing quality of life, and given what we know about the importance of quality of life for morbidity and mortality, this could be a very powerful and simple intervention."

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