Differences in risk factors for acute coronary syndromes between men and women.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study is to evaluate the presence of risk factors for coronary heart diseases in men and women in our population.


METHODS
414 patients (335 men, 79 women) admitted to our coronary intensive care unit with the diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome were evaluated for risk factors.


RESULTS
74.7% of women and 84.8% of men were observed to belong to sex-specific risk groups. This finding was statistically significant (P = 0.005). Prevalence of hypertension was significantly higher in women (58.2%) than in men (28.1%) (P = 0.0001). Prevalence of diabetes mellitus in women was (51.9%) and significantly higher than in men (28.1%, P = 0.0001). Smoking was 2.5 times higher in men: 77.0% and 31.6%, respectively (P = 0.0001). Body mass index was high in both groups and in women exceeded that of men (P = 0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
The fact that risk factors for acute coronary syndromes were frequently observed in male and female patients presenting with acute coronary syndromes warned us to arrange our health policy towards the priority of the prevention of these risk factors.
Kurtulmus
Neslihan
N
Department of Internal Medicine, Educational and Research Hospital of Vakif Gureba, Turkey. neslihandr@hotmail.com
Bos
Serap
S
Arslan
Senem
S
Kurt
Tulin
T
Tukek
Tufan
T
Ince
Nurhan
N
D000787:Angina Pectoris / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology