In a new study, researchers found that women receiving treatment in primary care received some heart disease medication prescriptions at a lower rate than men.
The research was conducted by a team at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide.
Lifestyle changes, including maintaining a healthy weight, quitting smoking, being physically active, eating a healthy diet, controlling high blood pressure and cholesterol, and reducing high blood sugar, can lower heart disease risk.
For some people, however, medication also may be necessary to reduce risk.
Previous research among heart attack survivors found that women were less likely to receive recommended medications in a hospital setting.
In this study, researchers wanted to understand whether this occurs even earlier, in primary care and among patients at high risk or with existing heart disease.
A systematic review of two large medical databases was conducted to find studies with data showing the number of cardiovascular-disease prescriptions among men and women.
The researchers looked specifically for studies with data on statin prescriptions, which lower cholesterol; aspirin, which decreases the risk of blood clots; and blood-pressure-lowering medications, including ACE-inhibitors and diuretics.
A total of 43 international studies with data on primary-care prescriptions among more than 2.2 million patients (28% women; average age 51-76 years) who were at risk for heart attack were evaluated.
Among the findings, the analysis indicates women received: 19% fewer aspirin prescriptions than men; 10% fewer statin prescriptions than men; and 15% fewer ACE-inhibitor prescriptions than men.
However, women were 27% more likely than men to be prescribed diuretics.
The team says patients should talk with their physicians about the benefits of using heart disease medications and weigh them against the potential risks.
The lead author of the study is Sanne Peters, Ph.D., a research fellow in epidemiology at the George Institute for Global Health.
The study is published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
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