Women treated differently from men for heart problems

According to two new studies by Duke University, men are far more likely to receive needed heart treatment than men when having similar risk factors. The study highlights the finding that women and minorities are treated differently from the way men patients are treated and the difference requires more diligence in seeking our second opinions and equal treatment.

The new findings show that the use of implantable cardioverter defibrillators, small devices that shock an irregularly beating heart back to a normal rhythm, "are used two to three times more in men than in women with similar symptoms, even though heart disease is the leading cause of death among women. The device is also used more in white men than black men".

Researchers found that the devices were "vastly underused among patients who appeared to be eligible for them, and when they were used, men were most often the beneficiaries". For every 10 men who got the device, only three or four women did. Seven black men got the device for every 10 white men. It was also found that only 35 percent of those eligible for the defibrillators devices got one - women were 50 percent less likely than men to receive them, and black men were 25 percent less likely than white men.

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News & Observer
Kristin Collins, Staff Writer
October 2, 2007

Study: Women less likely to get heart device

Men are far more likely than women to receive a simple life-saving heart treatment, even when they have similar risk factors, according to two Duke University studies released today.

The studies, to be published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, are the latest in a growing body of research showing that doctors still treat women and minorities differently from the way they treat white men.

"Unfortunately, there's one recurring theme from all these kinds of studies," said Kevin Schulman, a Duke internist who worked on the new studies. "It's that you really have to take care of yourself, be aggressive, get a second opinion. The system's not consistent." Read more...