Gender bias in cardiovascular healthcare of a tertiary care centre of North India.
OBJECTIVE
To analyse the gender bias in paediatric patients referred for free cardiac treatment as part of School Health Programme at a tertiary care centre in North India.


METHODS
A total of 537 children were referred for further management of congenital heart disease or rheumatic heart disease. Of these, 519 underwent cardiac intervention, and the data from their records were analysed retrospectively to determine any gender disparity in the utilisation of cardiac surgery.


RESULTS
Of the 519 children studied, only 195 (37.6%) were girls, while the remaining 324 (62.4%) were boys (male-to-female ratio of 1.66:1, p<0.0001), indicating a large gender divide. Gender bias was found to be prevalent across all the age groups irrespective of the type of cardiac ailment. Moreover, no statistically significant difference was found between the urban and rural populations (male-to-female ratio of 1.64:1 in rural and 1.71:1 in urban populations; p=0.823) in terms of gender disparity.


CONCLUSIONS
Significant gender discrepancies exist in healthcare-seeking behaviour of patients in North India despite the provision of free cardiac treatment. An equal prevalence of gender bias in urban and rural communities points towards deep-rooted social norms beyond just the economic constraints. Healthcare policies ensuring equal treatment of male and female children should be promulgated to ensure a complete eradication of this social evil.
Department of Cardiology , Dayanand Medical College & Hospital-Unit Hero DMC Heart Institute , Ludhiana, Punjab , India.
Shibba Takkar
ST
Chhabra
Interns in Department of Cardiology at Dayanand Medical College & Hospital , Ludhiana, Punjab , India.
Sarbjit
S
Masson
Interns in Department of Cardiology at Dayanand Medical College & Hospital , Ludhiana, Punjab , India.
Tripat
T
Kaur
Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery , Dayanand Medical College & Hospital-Unit Hero DMC Heart Institute , Ludhiana, Punjab , India.
Rajiv
R
Gupta
Department of Community Medicine , Dayanand Medical College & Hospital , Ludhiana, Punjab , India.
Sarit
S
Sharma
Department of Cardiology , Dayanand Medical College & Hospital-Unit Hero DMC Heart Institute , Ludhiana, Punjab , India.
Abishek
A
Goyal
Department of Cardiology , Dayanand Medical College & Hospital-Unit Hero DMC Heart Institute , Ludhiana, Punjab , India.
Bhupinder
B
Singh
Department of Cardiology , Dayanand Medical College & Hospital-Unit Hero DMC Heart Institute , Ludhiana, Punjab , India.
Rohit
R
Tandon
Department of Cardiology , Dayanand Medical College & Hospital-Unit Hero DMC Heart Institute , Ludhiana, Punjab , India.
Naved
N
Aslam
Department of Cardiology , Dayanand Medical College & Hospital-Unit Hero DMC Heart Institute , Ludhiana, Punjab , India.
Bishav
B
Mohan
Department of Cardiology , Dayanand Medical College & Hospital-Unit Hero DMC Heart Institute , Ludhiana, Punjab , India.
Gurpreet Singh
GS
Wander
CARDIAC SURGERY; CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE