The Canadian Women's Heart Health Alliance ATLAS on the Epidemiology, Diagnosis, and Management of Cardiovascular Disease in Women - Chapter 7: Sex, Gender, and the Social Determinants of Health

Women vs men have major differences in terms of risk-factor profiles, social and environmental factors, clinical presentation, diagnosis, and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Women are more likely than men to experience health issues that are complex and multifactorial, often relating to disparities in access to care, risk-factor prevalence, sex-based biological differences, gender-related factors, and sociocultural factors. Furthermore, awareness of the intersectional nature and relationship of sociocultural determinants of health, including sex and gender factors, that influence access to care and health outcomes for women with cardiovascular disease remains elusive. This review summarizes literature that reports on under-recognized sex- and gender-related risk factors that intersect with psychosocial, economic, and cultural factors in the diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes of women's cardiovascular health.

The Canadian Women’s Heart Health Alliance Atlas on the Epidemiology, Diagnosis, and Management of Cardiovascular Disease in Women — Chapter 4: Sex- and Gender-Unique Disparities: CVD Across the Lifespan of a Woman

Women have unique sex- and gender-related risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) that can present or evolve over their lifespan. Pregnancy-associated conditions, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and menopause can increase a woman’s risk of CVD. Women are at greater risk for autoimmune rheumatic disorders, which play a role in the predisposition and pathogenesis of CVD. The influence of traditional CVD risk factors (eg, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, physical inactivity, depression, anxiety, and family history) is greater in women than men. Finally, there are sex differences in the response to treatments for CVD risk and comorbid disease processes. In this Atlas chapter we review sex- and gender-unique CVD risk factors that can occur across a woman’s lifespan, with the aim to reduce knowledge gaps and guide the development of optimal strategies for awareness and treatment.

Introducing the Canadian Women's Heart Health Alliance ATLAS on the Epidemiology, Diagnosis, and Management of Cardiovascular Diseases in Women

Despite a global understanding that indicators and outcomes of cardiovascular disease (CVD) are known to differ between men and women, uptake of the recognition of sex and gender influences on the clinical care of women has been slow or absent. The Canadian Women’s Heart Health Alliance (CWHHA) was established as a network of experts and advocates to develop and disseminate evidence-informed strategies to transform clinical practice and augment collaborative action on women’s cardiovascular health in Canada. As an initial project, the CWHHA membership undertook an environmental scan of CVD in women in Canada from which a scientific statement could be developed to summarize critical sex- and gender-specific issues in CVD. This comprehensive review of the evidence focused on the sex- and gender-specific differences in comorbidity, risk factors, disease awareness, presentation, diagnosis, and treatment across the entire spectrum of CVD. In the process of creating the review, it was recognized that the team of CWHHA experts had also assembled an expansive collection of original research articles that were synthesized into detailed chapters reporting on the present state of the evidence unique to each cardiovascular condition in women. This work comprises an “ATLAS” on the epidemiology, diagnosis, and management of CVD in women. The overall goal of the ATLAS is to create a living document that will help clinicians and the public recognize the unique aspects of women’s heart health care and provide policy makers with information they need to ensure equitable care for women with CVD.