title: Rose questionnaire angina in younger men and women: gender differences in the relationship to cardiovascular risk factors and other reported symptoms.
abstract: Cross-sectional data from the Whitehall II study baseline were used to identify factors that may lead to the high levels of Rose angina reporting in women. 134 (4.0%) of 3350 women and 164 (2.4%) of 6830 men reported angina (P<0.001). Women with Rose angina had a poorer cardiovascular risk profile (degree of obesity, serum cholesterol and apolipoprotein B, blood pressure) and more electrocardiogram abnormalities (ST and T changes) than women without angina, but the associations were generally weaker than in men. Women who reported many other physical symptoms had a high prevalence of Rose angina (9.7%). Adjustment for symptom reporting reduced the age-adjusted gender difference to odds ratio (OR) = 0.93 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.56-1.56) for subjects with no symptoms, and to OR = 1.42 (95% CI = 1.05-1.90) for subjects at the upper quartile of symptom score. Among women a high level of general symptom reporting was associated with General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) minor psychiatric morbidity (51.9% prevalence), but GHQ caseness does not appear to be a predictor of Rose angina (OR 1.22 [0.67-2.21]) in this group. Coronary artery disease risk is raised in women with Rose angina, and this remains true in groups with high levels of general symptom reporting.
authors.affiliation: International Centre for Health and Society, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nicholson
authors.forename: I R
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Macfarlane
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Brunner
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marmot
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000787:Angina Pectoris / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D005082:Physical Exertion; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires