Women Get Less Heart
Disease Care Than Men

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Researchers in England report that women are not receiving the same level of care as men for heart disease, confirming the findings of similar reports that found gender bias in the treatment of heart disease.

The female heart disease patients in the study had the same level of risk as men, but were less likely than men to be given aspirin, cholesterol-lowering drugs or be officially diagnosed as having high cholesterol, according to Dr. Julia Hippisley-Cox of Nottingham University and colleagues.

The findings are not unique to the UK, according to Dr. Rose Marie Robertson, president of the American Heart Association.

``Many of the same issues presented in this study are clearly relevant in this country,'' she said in an interview with Reuters Health. ``Very often women are presenting physicians with the same symptoms as men but are receiving fewer tests, treatments and surgeries,'' she added.

In the study, researchers evaluated computer medical records of 3,108 men and 2,783 women--all of whom had received a diagnosis of heart disease or had received a prescription for nitrates, which are drugs used to treat heart disease-related chest pain.

Women were less likely than men to have basic measurements recorded, such as height and weight, smoking status and blood pressure, according to the report in the April 7th issue of the British Medical Journal.

Although a higher proportion of the women in the study had elevated cholesterol levels, more men in the study were actually prescribed cholesterol lowering drugs. Such medications have been proven effective in both men and women, the report indicates.

While studies show that US physicians are very good at diagnosing heart disease, some people are more likely to be overlooked, including women under the age of 55 and African Americans, Robertson explained.

``Women need to be more proactive about their heart health, especially if you consider that nearly half of all women will die from heart disease,'' Robertson told Reuters Health.

``Likewise, doctors need to be talking more to women about their risks and ways to reduce or eliminate them, like quitting smoking or getting more exercise and having blood tests done to evaluate cholesterol and triglyceride levels,'' she added.

SOURCE: British Medical Journal 2001;322:332-334.

Reference Source 89

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