Management of patients with heart failure in clinical practice: differences between men and women.

Objectives: This study evaluated gender differences in clinical characteristics, treatment and outcome among patients with heart failure, and to what extent these differences are due to age and differences in left ventricular (LV) function. Although gender differences are observed among heart failure patients, few studies have been adequately powered to investigate these differences. Methods: A total of 8914 (out of 10 701) patients (47% women) from the Euro Heart Survey on Heart Failure with confirmed diagnosis of heart failure were included in the analyses. Results: Women were older (74.7 vs 68.3 years, p Conclusions: Fewer women had an assessment of LV function, but, when investigated, women had better ventricular function. Women were less often treated with evidence-based drugs, even after adjustment for age and important clinical characteristics. Clinicians need to be aware of deficiencies in the treatment of women with heart failure and measures should be taken to rectify them.