title: Attitudes about treatment of coronary heart disease among women and men presenting for exercise testing.
abstract: To assess attitudes that could contribute to gender differences in the use of coronary procedures, we surveyed 322 patients presenting for exercise testing at a major teaching hospital. Adjusting for sociodemographic and clinical factors, women and men did not differ significantly in their willingness to seek a second opinion, reduce physical activity, or take drugs to avoid major cardiac surgery, but men were more likely than women to describe themselves as risk takers on a three-item personality measure (adjusted odds ratio 2.5; 95% confidence interval 1.4-4.6). Patients' attitudes about risk should be explored further in studies of gender differences in the use of coronary procedures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Mass., USA.
authors.forename: J Z
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Ayanian
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Epstein
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D003625:Data Collection; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012737:Sex Factors