Key result
Societal expectations within medical and relational contexts led to women experiencing barriers to diagnosis and treatment and minimization of their experience and knowledge.
Meta-Analysis (n=43)
Qualitative analysis highlights that societal gender expectations create barriers to diagnosis and treatment for women with heart disease, suggesting empowerment and relational support as key strategies for optimal care.
Supports addressing gender biases in women's cardiac care; leaves open interventional trials to improve diagnosis and treatment.
Female heart patients are underdiagnosed and undertreated. The purpose of this qualitative meta-data-analysis was to explain how societal expectations related to gender and the treatment environment influence women's experiences and can inform optimal care. The authors used grounded theory methodology and a social constructionist gender lens to analyze 43 studies (1993-2012) of women's experiences of heart disease. The analysis illustrates how social expectations within both medical and relational contexts led to women experiencing barriers to diagnosis and treatment and inadvertent minimization of their experience and knowledge. Women's descriptions of their experiences suggest three kinds of health care strategies that have the potential to increase women's engagement with heart disease treatment and rehabilitation: (a) support give and take in relational connections, (b) identify and acknowledge unique health-promoting behavior, and (c) focus on empowerment. These findings have interdisciplinary implications for practice with women with heart disease.
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Galick et al. (2015) conducted a meta-analysis in Heart disease (n=43). Societal expectations related to gender and the treatment environment was evaluated on Women's experiences of heart disease, including barriers to diagnosis and treatment. Societal expectations within medical and relational contexts led to women experiencing barriers to diagnosis and treatment and minimization of their experience and knowledge.
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