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Medical Treatment in Coronary Patients: Is there Still a Gender Gap? Results from European Society of Cardiology EUROASPIRE V Registry

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Abstract

Purpose

This study is aimed at investigating gender differences in the medical management of patients with coronary heart disease (CHD).

Methods

Analyses were based on the ESC EORP EUROASPIRE V (European Survey Of Cardiovascular Disease Prevention And Diabetes) survey. Consecutive patients between 18 and 80 years, hospitalized for a coronary event, were included in the study. Information on cardiovascular medication intake at hospital discharge and at follow-up (≥ 6 months to < 2 years after hospitalization) was collected.

Results

Data was available for 8261 patients (25.8% women). Overall, no gender differences were observed in the prescription and use of cardioprotective medication like aspirin, beta-blockers, and ACE-I/ARBs (P > 0.01) at discharge and follow-up respectively. However, a statistically significant difference was found in the use of statins at follow-up, in disfavor of women (82.8% vs. 77.7%; P < 0.001). In contrast, at follow-up, women were more likely to use diuretics (31.5% vs. 39.5%; P < 0.001) and calcium channel blockers (21.2% vs. 28.8%; P < 0.001), whereas men were more likely to use anticoagulants (8.8% vs. 7.0%; P < 0.001). Overall, no gender differences were found in total daily dose intake (P > 0.01). Furthermore, women were less likely than men to have received a CABG (20.4% vs. 13.2%; P < 0.001) or PCI (82.1% vs. 74.9%; P < 0.001) at follow-up. No gender differences were observed in prescribed (P = 0.10) and attended (P = 0.63) cardiac rehabilitation programs.

Conclusion

The EUROASPIRE V results show only limited gender differences in the medical management of CHD patients. Current findings suggest growing awareness about risk in female CHD patients.

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Data Availability

No availability of data and material.

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Acknowledgments

The Registry Executive Committee and Steering Committee of the EURObservational Research Programme (EORP) is acknowledged. Data collection was conducted by the EORP department from the ESC by Emanunuelle Fiorucci as Project Officer, Viviane Missiamenou and Florian Larras as Data Manager. All investigators are listed in Supplemental Appendix 1. The EUROASPIRE Study Group is grateful to the administrative staff, physicians, nurses, and other personnel in the hospitals in which the survey was carried out and to all patients who participated in the surveys.

Funding

The EuroAspire V survey was carried out under the auspices of the European Society of Cardiology, EURObservational Research Programme (EORP). Since the start of EORP, the following companies have supported the program: Amgen, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Sanofi, Ferrer, Daiichi Sankyo and Novo Nordisk. Pieter Vynckier is financially supported by the ‘Fonds voor Hartchirurgie–Fonds pour la Chirurgie Cardiaque’.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Dirk De Bacquer and Delphine De Smedt should be considered shared senior authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Ghent University, Corneel Heymanslaan 10, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Pieter Vynckier, Dirk De Bacquer & Delphine De Smedt

  2. Cardiology Unit, Department of Medicine K2, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Giulia Ferrannini & Lars Rydén

  3. Department of Cardiology, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

    Lale Tokgözoğlu

  4. Centre for Cardiovascular Prevention, First Faculty of Medicine and Thomayer Hospital, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

    Jan Bruthans

  5. National Institute for Prevention and Cardiovascular Health, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland

    Kornelia Kotseva & David Wood

  6. National Heart & Lung Institute Imperial College London, London, UK

    Kornelia Kotseva & David Wood

  7. Department of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Tine De Backer & Sofie Gevaert

Authors
  1. Pieter Vynckier
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Consortia

On behalf of the EUROASPIRE V Investigators group

Contributions

PV, DDB, and DDS contributed to the conception and design. PV, GF, LR, LT, JB, KK, DW, TDB, SG, DDB, and DDS contributed to the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation. PV, DDB, and DDS drafted the manuscript. All authors critically revised the manuscript, gave final approval, and agree to be accountable for all aspects of work ensuring integrity and accuracy.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pieter Vynckier.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Local Ethics Committee approval was available for each participating country.

Consent to Participate

Written informed consent was obtained from each participant by a signed declaration.

Consent for Publication

Written informed consent was obtained from each participant by a signed declaration.

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Disclaimer

The sponsors of the EuroAspire surveys had no role in the design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, decision to publish, or writing the manuscript.

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Vynckier, P., Ferrannini, G., Rydén, L. et al. Medical Treatment in Coronary Patients: Is there Still a Gender Gap? Results from European Society of Cardiology EUROASPIRE V Registry. Cardiovasc Drugs Ther 35, 801–808 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10557-020-07095-6

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