Gender differences in clinical status at time of coronary revascularisation in Spain.
OBJECTIVE
To study gender differences in clinical status at the time of coronary revascularisation.


METHODS
Retrospective study of clinical records. Two stage stratified cluster sampling was used to select a nationally representative sample of patients receiving a coronary revascularisation procedure in 1997.


METHODS
All of Spain.


METHODS
Odds ratios (OR) in men and women for different clinical and diagnostic variables related with coronary disease. A logistic regression model was developed to estimate the association between coronary symptoms and gender.


RESULTS
In the univariate analysis the prevalence of the following risk factors for coronary heart disease was higher in women than in men: obesity (OR=1.8), hypertension (OR=2.9) and diabetes (OR=2.1). High surgical risk was also more prevalent among women (OR=2.6). In the logistic regression analysis women's risk of being symptomatic at the time of revascularisation was more than double that of men (OR=2.4).


CONCLUSIONS
Women have more severe coronary symptoms at the time of coronary revascularisation than do men. These results suggest that women receive revascularisation at a more advanced stage of coronary disease. Further research is needed to clarify what social, cultural or biological factors may be implicated in the gender differences observed.
Aguilar
M D
MD
Técnicas Avanzadas de Investigación en Servicios de Salud, SL (TAISS), Madrid, Spain. daguilar@taiss.com
Lázaro
P
P
Fitch
K
K
Luengo
S
S
D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery; D048909:Diabetes Complications; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008498:Medical Record Linkage; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009204:Myocardial Revascularization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology