Diagnosis & Treatment: Getting to the Heart of the Matter

Raising awareness about women’s heart disease is not only a matter of educating patients, but also informing physicians. The fact is, there are challenges in both the presentation and diagnosis of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in women, as well as treatment. First of all, women may not recognize their vague symptoms as signs of heart disease and may not seek medical evaluation. If they do recognize CVD symptoms, they may discuss it with their primary care physicians, OB/GYN or cardiologists.

The Perception Gap: According to the National Study of Physician Awareness and Adherence to Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Guidelines, there appears to be a gap in terms of perception and awareness of CVD among women.

Source: Mosca, L., et al. (2005). Circulation;111:499-510

The charts show that awareness of women’s heart-related guidelines is slightly lower among primary care and OB/GYN physicians at about 60-80%. However, a lower percentage of physicians tend to incorporate these guidelines into practice with the women’s heart-related guidelines being lowest at about 25 to 40%.

The perception problem also means that a physician’s assessment of CVD in women may be less aggressive than in men. As a result, fewer women may be referred for further diagnostic evaluation like nuclear stress tests and diagnostic PCI.

On the positive side, raising awareness of CVD in women presents a significant opportunity for collaboration across physician specialties.

The Gender Gap:

• Women may have atypical or vague symptoms related to coronary artery disease.
• Women may not seek medical help based on vague symptoms.
• Once seeking medical help, women are more likely to get misdiagnosed or suffer missed diagnosis owing to their atypical/vague presentation, especially at the primary care level.
• Being well informed of gender differences of heart disease presentation amongst physicians may potentially lead to earlier recognition of heart disease clues and possible earlier referral diagnosis.
• Under-diagnosis of women’s CVD by referring physicians isn’t the only challenge. Even though the prevalence of coronary artery disease is similar in men and women, there appears to be a gender gap as far as referral for testing or testing to offering options for heart disease goes.

The bottom line: To promote women’s heart health, the ongoing goals are to raise awareness among patients and healthcare providers, improve diagnosis by referring physicians, and tailor treatment needs specifically for women. All targeting one primary objective—to optimize the standard of care for CVD in women, for the benefit of all.

AP2930796 Rev. A