Worldwide, Women and Men Differ in the Cardiovascular Treatments They Receive

Several researchers have reported undertreatment of cardiovascular risk factors in women, and other investigators have found that women have higher risks for death. Most of these data are derived from high-income countries, whereas most cardiovascular disease occurs in lower-income countries. These investigators studied risk factors and patterns of cardiovascular disease treatments in 27 low-, middle-, and high-income countries across the world.

Data on sociodemographics, risk factors, medication use, cardiac investigations, and cardiovascular interventions were obtained from the PURE study on approximately 200,000 participants (age range, 35–70). Participants were followed for a median of 9.5 years for development of cardiovascular disease …