Is CVD Prevention Care Biased Toward Male Patients?

Inequality in healthcare access is a global issue based on the socioeconomic status, race, and gender of patients. It is known that female cardiovascular disease (CVD) patients receive less aggressive treatment than male CVD patients. To find any gender bias in receiving CVD prevention care, researchers analyzed data from 8512 individuals from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

The results showed that: Among 2,924 individuals with the risk of CVD, female patients were more likely to receive advice to lose weight (27%), exercise (38%), reduce salt intake (27%), and fat/calorie consumption (11%) compared to male patients. Meanwhile, male patients were 20% more likely to receive statin prescriptions than female patients. The study indicates that the misconception of females having a lower risk of CVD than males may be the main reason for the discrepancy in advice…