Gender Differences in Guideline-Directed Medical Therapy for Cardiovascular Disease Among Young Veterans

ABSTRACT Background There is an increasing burden of cardiovascular disease, including coronary artery disease (CAD) and heart failure (HF), among women Veterans. Clinical practice guidelines recommend multiple pharmacotherapies that can reduce risk of mortality and adverse cardiovascular outcomes. Objective To determine if there are disparities in the use of guideline-directed medical therapy by gender among Veterans with incident CAD and HF. Design Retrospective. Participants Veterans (934,504; 87.8% men and 129,469; 12.2% women) returning from Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and New Dawn. Main Measures Differences by gender in the prescription of Class 1, Level of Evidence A guideline-directed medical therapy among patients who developed incident CAD and HF at 30 days, 90 days, and 12 months after diagnosis. For CAD, medications included statins and antiplatelet therapy. For HF, medications included beta-blockers and renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors. Key Results Overall, women developed CAD and HF at a younger average age than men (mean 45.8 vs. 47.7 years, p