Bias and biology: The heart attack gender gap
Each year, around 1,700 women are admitted to hospitals in Wales due to a heart attack. We estimate that at least 100,000 women are living with heart disease in Wales. The most common of these is coronary heart disease with around 45,000 women in Wales living with this condition. Wales has the second highest coronary heart disease female death rate of the UK’s four nations with around 1,300 women dying every year – that is twice as many deaths as breast cancer. And yet, heart disease is often perceived as something that only affects men. This assumption is incorrect and is costing women their lives.
Women face unconscious biases and disadvantages at every stage of their heart disease journey. BHF funded research suggests that the deaths of at least 8,243 women could have been prevented through equitable cardiac treatment over a ten-year period in England and Wales. Women are:
- not seen as being at risk of heart attacks
- more likely to be misdiagnosed or diagnosed slowly.
- less likely to receive optimal treatment.
- less likely to access cardiac rehabilitation
Both UK and Scottish Governments have committed to nation specific clinical plans to address health inequalities faced by women in Scotland and England. There is currently no such commitment from Welsh Government.
We are calling on Welsh Government to commit to a Women’s Health Quality Statement which addresses inequalities experienced by women with heart disease. The quality statement should seek to improve outcomes for women with heart disease through:
- Improved public awareness
- Timely diagnosis
- Equitable treatment
- Equitable access to cardiac rehabilitation