Studies over the last few years have shown alarming gender gaps in the way women experiencing heart attacks are diagnosed and treated in Australia. Speaker Dr. Sonali Gnanenthiran, a radiologist at Concord Hospital, named hypertension as the top risk factor. She highlighted that women have cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks and strokes, at lower blood pressure thresholds than men. These findings have meaningful implications and present alarming questions about how women are viewed and cared for in critical, rapid response, emergency medical situations.
Despite this, nearly 20,000 Australian women have heart attacks each year. Yet, like most women, they regularly encounter longer waits for timely diagnosis and treatment than men. Even with advancements in cardiac care, women continue to experience systematic barriers that impede their access to necessary medical treatments. In this article, we take a look at what’s been learned. The research looked at hospital admission records for almost 30,000 adults who experienced serious heart attacks from 2011 to 2020.
The Gender Gap in Cardiac Care
The analysis produced some good news, as women comprised almost 30 percent of the study participants. They were mostly older but commonly had pre-existing medical concerns such as heart failure, diabetes, and dementia. Alarmingly, women had higher rates of adverse events following a heart attack. Controlling for pre-existing medical conditions, women were still six percent more likely to die within a year than men.
Dr. Gnanenthiran commented on the alarming gap in treatment for heart attacks by sex. She stated, “We need much more inclusive recruitment strategies, more flexible timings of appointments, more remote engagement … so we can better target this high-risk population.”
The study found that women experienced substantial obstacles in accessing necessary cardiac treatment. They were 13 percent less likely to get an angiogram and 16 percent less likely to have a life-saving percutaneous coronary intervention.
Dr. Gnanenthiran is optimistic about closing the gap in cardiac care. She reiterated the importance of education for not only cardiologists, but emergency room physicians and primary care doctors as well. “It’s not just cardiologists. It has to be emergency doctors and general practitioners,” she asserted.
Unique Risk Factors for Women
Professor Clara Chow, academic director of the Westmead Applied Research Centre at the University of Sydney, underscored the significance of female-specific risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Risks like gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia and early menopause are missed in clinical evaluations.
Professor Chow explained that “women with gestational diabetes or high blood pressure in pregnancy, for example, are at risk of having a heart attack in the future.” She mentioned how women don’t often present with the same symptoms as their male counterparts, making it harder to diagnose. “They’re less likely to get the classic clutching of the chest pain, and more likely to be a bit breathless and have some tightness,” she added.
The study’s conclusions are consistent with the broader literature that supports personalized treatment, based on sex differences. Professor Chow pointed out a troubling trend: “I still see, as a clinician, these unconscious biases in how we treat men and women in the health system.”
Encouraging Early Detection and Intervention
Healthcare professionals have long advocated for started screening people at higher risk earlier. Those most at risk include anyone with high blood pressure or a family history of cardiovascular disease. In Australia, people aged 45+ are able to receive free annual heart health checks if they do not already have heart disease. People with diabetes are eligible for these checks from age 35, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders from age 30.
Dr. Gnanenthiran said that the results of their study are consistent with previous Australian and international research. This lack of consistency is a reflection of a deeper-rooted problem when it comes to gender differences in CVD care. She said, “So does that mean we should have different blood pressure targets for women than men? This is an important question which is just now coming to the fore. We need more research.
In her remarks, Professor Chow reiterated the need for continued education campaigns to better identify women’s heart attack symptoms and encourage awareness. “The good news is we feel raising awareness has cut through, and people are recognising this … but the gap is closing too slowly,” she stated. She cautioned that if progress continues at its current pace, it may take over a decade to see significant changes.
