misdiagnosis of women with CP

Genista, BSN, RN · Feb 26, 2000

Hello. Recently I've witnessed gender bias r/t treatment of chest pain in women. Women's s/sx of MI are different than men's in many cases. Many health care providers do not take women's complaints of chest pain as seriously- especially if the patients are young women.Women are still viewed as "histrionic" and "emotional." Often their s/sx are disregarded as "anxiety." I think that this area is still a big problem.

hartwell · Feb 26, 2000

February is National Heart Month, and on CBS radio I heard that many women in the US. are having heart attacks (I forgot the exact statistics). Are women coming forward to discuss their cardiac symptoms or are they intimidated by the attitudes of physicians who tend to dismiss chest pain in women as being a less potentially life threatening situation than that of chest pain in men?

justanurse · Feb 27, 2000

I agree with the above. I also think that many women do not see that heart disease could be the cause of their chest discomfort. Yes, women's discomfort is typically different from men. And, many women will neglect themselves for the sake of their family (or so it seems). Once again it comes down to: more education is needed. More and more younger middle-aged women are being treated in my facility. Unfortunatly, those that are not being treated for cardiac problems promply, suffer unnecessarily lengthly hospitalizations & longer, more debilitating results more often than men.

And, men can be just as anxious & emotional (not always pleasantly so) as women can be.

hartwell · Feb 29, 2000

today I saw a TV commercial for Bayer aspirin that showed a woman being rushed to the ER with an oxygen mask on, probably with chest pain, worrying about what would happen to her family if she died. Does this mean that there is an increased awareness of women having cardiac problems? Or does Bayer just want women to buy aspirin?

CHUBBY · Mar 1, 2000

I think Bayer wants the women to buy the aspirin.....Actuallu, I'm seeing of lot of women ruling in with the chief complaint of "abdominal pain" One woman was on her way out the door when her CPK/Trop I came back through the roof .(Don't ask me why the Doc would think of discharging her without having all the results back)

anurse · Mar 2, 2000

Whenever I hear a doctor describe a woman's chest pain as anxiety, I cannot help joking with him about how I'm waiting for the day I hear that comment made about a man's chest pain.

Tara · Mar 4, 2000

Medicine has always been geared to fit the S/S of men. This is nothing new. Thanks to the women getting more involved and educated this is changing.

CINDYH · Mar 6, 2000

In the January issue of AJN there is a good article on Acute Myocardial infarction (AMI). Factors affecting delay are listed. Gender (women) is noted. Until recently most studies were focused on men. According to polls women hardly ever consider heart disease to be a personal health concern. Symptoms of AMI in women can differ from men. Other atypical symptoms such as epigastric pain, chest cramping or SOB are not associated symptoms of AMI.

hartwell · Mar 7, 2000

Just today I saw an article in Nurseweek that mentioned a report by the Center for Disease Control, giving various counties in California that have the highest and lowest cardiac disease related deaths for women.

The same article quoted the U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher as saying,"Contrary to what many people believe, heart disease is the leading cause of death for women".

CINDYH · Mar 7, 2000

Are women treated any different depending on 1)Demographics 2)Age 3)or other current medications?

Sophia M · Mar 8, 2000

I also read the article in Nurseweek titled "Women in 12 counties plagued by high heart disease death rates". It states that the CDC identified a high death rate related to heart disease for minority women in California, especially among Asians and Latinos. It also suggested that some ot the reasons for the high incidence is related to the high concentration of minority women; lack of access to healthcare, specialists, and insurance; isolation; and poverty. An educational campaign stressing prevention was done in S.F. last year which targeted Asian women. We need to educate more women in more counties (and states), especially those women without many resources.