Background
Heart disease is a leading cause of death and disability across the world. Women with heart disease have worse short- and long-term outcomes when compared to men, especially for those with lower education levels, living rurally and belonging to an ethnic minority. Women are also more likely to die during their hospital admission.
The findings from this review pointed to four themes:
- The assumption that coronary heart disease (CHD) is a man’s disease, and that women were uncertain about their own symptoms mistaking them as fatigue, or old age.
- Women often delayed seeking help, not wanting to bother others, and cited staff shortages and long waiting times especially in rural areas.
- Health care interactions: women described not being listened to by health professionals and dismissed being labelled a nuisance or hypochondriac.
- Women as wives were commonly the reason men sought help for CHD, however this was not reported as reciprocated.
Key points
- CHD is a women’s disease and efforts need to be made through health services and general community health education to dispel gendered perceptions, such that CHD is a ‘male disease’
- Build awareness on the unsafe role of socialised gender norms on women’s health seeking behaviour and assist women to recognise early signs and symptoms, that can differ to men’s and seek help in a timely manner.
- Develop gender competences in the medical curricula and challenge health professionals, organisations and health systems to be accountable for the bias male experiences.
Find out more
For more information contact first author Helen Brown (Deakin University) at h.brown@deakin.edu.au or Susan Brumby (National Centre for Farmer Health) at susan.brumby@wdhs.net
You can also visit https://www.nature.com/articles/s44294-024-00043-x
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