Gender disparities in patient education provided during patient visits with a diagnosis of coronary heart disease

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in females in the United States. Prior studies have reported that females receive less patient education and preventive counseling for cardiovascular disease as compared with males. The American Heart Association and others have embarked on several initiatives over the last 20 years to narrow this disparity of care. The primary objective of this study was to determine whether a gender disparity remains in the provision of patient education among patients diagnosed with coronary heart disease, a form of cardiovascular disease. The secondary objective was to determine whether there is an association between the provision of patient education and sociodemographic variables and risk factors. METHODS: This was a retrospective, cross-sectional, observational study of adults (⩾18 years) diagnosed with coronary heart disease who participated in National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey between the years 2005 and 2014, inclusive. Chi-square tests of independence were performed to address the primary objective. A multivariable logistic regression model was constructed to assess the association between gender and provision of patient education while adjusting for sociodemographic variables and risk factors of interest. RESULTS: A total raw survey sample size of 17,332 patient visits meeting the study inclusion/exclusion criteria was utilized. Patients were predominately white, male, non-Hispanic, and ⩾75 years of age. Females had 0.86 times the odds of receiving patient education compared with males (95% confidence interval = 0.78–0.95, p = 0.0024). After adjusting for covariates of interest, gender remained statistically significant in the multivariable logistic model. In addition, the variables “other payer” (vs private insurance), tobacco use, primary care physician type, obesity, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension were found to be statistically significantly associated with the provision of patient education (p < 0.05) in the multivariable analysis. CONCLUSION: In the data analyzed, gender disparities exist, as evidenced by a greater proportion of males receiving patient education than females, among coronary heart disease patients during visits seeking medical care. The acceptability of these findings in terms of overall patient management and treatment goals requires further evaluation.