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Why do men get more heart disease than women? An international perspective
1Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Stony Brook, USA. gweidner@ms.cc.sunysb.edu
Insights
Men face higher coronary heart disease (CHD) risks due to less adaptive coping with stress. Psychosocial and behavioral factors, not just biology, contribute to the gender gap in CHD mortality.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Public Health
- Psychology
Background:
- Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a leading cause of death globally for both men and women.
- While CHD mortality rates vary between countries, the gender gap in CHD mortality is also significant, suggesting factors beyond biology.
- Traditional risk factors do not fully explain increased CHD mortality in middle-aged men in Eastern Europe.
Purpose of the Study:
- To discuss the biological, behavioral, and psychosocial factors contributing to the gender gap in coronary heart disease (CHD).
- To explore the role of psychosocial risk factors in explaining higher CHD mortality rates among men, particularly in Eastern Europe.
- To compare gender differences in behavioral and psychosocial risk factors for CHD.
Main Methods:
- Review and discussion of existing literature on biological, behavioral, and psychosocial contributions to CHD.
- Comparative analysis of CHD mortality rates and risk factors between sexes and geographical regions (Eastern Europe vs. West).
- Examination of specific psychosocial factors like social isolation, vital exhaustion, alcohol consumption, and smoking.
Main Results:
- Biological factors alone do not account for the observed gender gap in CHD.
- Eastern European men exhibit higher levels of stress-related psychosocial risk factors compared to Western men.
- Women generally show more favorable psychosocial and behavioral profiles regarding CHD risk factors (e.g., lower alcohol consumption and smoking rates).
Conclusions:
- Men's coping mechanisms for stress appear less adaptive physiologically, behaviorally, and emotionally.
- Psychosocial and behavioral factors play a crucial role in the gender disparity of coronary heart disease.
- Addressing gender-specific psychosocial and behavioral risk factors is essential for reducing CHD mortality.
Abstract:
Biological, behavioral, and psychosocial contributions to the gender gap in coronary heart disease (CHD) are discussed. Although CHD is the Number 1 cause of death for both sexes in the industrialized world, CHD mortality rates between these countries are larger than those between men and women, suggesting that biological factors are not the sole influences on the gender gap in CHD. Traditional coronary risk factors cannot explain the rapid increase in CHD mortality among middle-aged men in many of the newly independent states of eastern Europe. However, eastern European men score higher on stress-related psychosocial coronary risk factors (e.g., social isolation, vital exhaustion) than men living in the West. Comparisons between the sexes also reveal gender differences in psychosocial and behavioral coronary risk factors, including excessive alcohol consumption and smoking, favoring women. Overall, it appears that men's coping with stressful events may be less adaptive physiologically, behaviorally, and emotionally, contributing to their increased risk for CHD.