Differences in risk factors for acute coronary syndromes between men and women

Abstract

Objective — The aim of this study is to evaluate the presence of risk factors for coronary heart diseases in men and women in our population.

Material and methods — 414 patients (335 men, 79 women) admitted to our coronary intensive care unit with the diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome were evaluated for risk factors.

Results — 74.7% of women and 84.8% of men were observed to belong to sex-specific risk groups. This finding was statistically significant (P = 0.005). Prevalence of hypertension was significantly higher in women (58.2%) than in men (28.1%) (P = 0.0001). Prevalence of diabetes mellitus in women was (51.9%) and significantly higher than in men (28.1%, P = 0.0001). Smoking was 2.5 times higher in men: 77.0% and 31.6%, respectively (P = 0.0001). Body mass index was high in both groups and in women exceeded that of men (P = 0.0001).

Conclusion — The fact that risk factors for acute coronary syndromes were frequently observed in male and female patients presenting with acute coronary syndromes warned us to arrange our health policy towards the priority of the prevention of these risk factors.

Key Words:

• acute coronary syndromes
• cardiovascular risk factors