Differences in the Rates of Cardiovasular Surgical Procedures in Men and Women with Coronary Heart Disease in the State of Texas

Moreland, Mathew, Differences in the rates of cardiovascular surgical procedures between men and women with coronary heart disease in the state of Texas. University of North Texas Health Science Center, School of Public Health, February 2003, 19pp., 3 tables, references, 23 titles. Data for the Texas Health Care Information Council was analyzed to identify the difference in the rates of invasive cardiovascular procedures performed on men and women among 411 Texas hospitals with the diagnosis of coronary heart disease in 1999. In all, 150,361 cases were compared for differences between gender, race, age and type of invasive cardiovascular procedure using chi-square test. Frequencies were tabulated for age, race and gender. Invasive cardiac procedures were differentiated by type: coronary angiography and coronary revascularization. Between the ages of 45 and 79 women were more likely to have angiography performed than men in the same age group. However, young (30-44) and elderly (80+) men were more likely to receive angiographic procedures when presenting with the same symptoms as women. Also, men of all ages and races were more likely to receive revascularization procedures (PTCA, CABG) than women when presenting with coronary heart disease symptomology. Additionally, men between the ages of 35 and 49 received twice the number of revascularization procedures than women. These findings identified patterns of treatment with defined differences between gender which may be attributed to external factors versus a true gender bias.