CHICAGO — The gender gap in lipid management hasn't narrowed at all despite the March 2004 publication of American Heart Association evidence-based guidelines for prevention of cardiovascular disease in women, Dr. Lori Mosca reported at the annual scientific sessions of the AHA.
The percentage of high-risk women in two large southeastern health plans who attained an LDL cholesterol level below 100 mg/dL rose from 33% before release of the gender-specific guidelines to 40% afterward. The proportion of high-risk men with an LDL cholesterol level below 100 mg/dL climbed from 41% to 50%. So the absolute difference in rates of good lipid control between men and women—the gender gap—actually increased from 8% prior to release of the AHA guidelines to 10% afterward, according to Dr. Mosca, director of preventive cardiology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Clearly these data indicate lipid control remains suboptimal in both sexes, she added, since half of high-risk men and 60% of high-risk women had LDL cholesterol values in excess of the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) target of 100 mg/dL.
Dr. Mosca's retrospective study utilized administrative claims data for 17,070 men and 17,357 women. All patients were high risk because they had known cardiovascular disease or diabetes.