Heart Matters: Gender and Racial Differences Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factor Control Among Veterans

Abstract

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality for U.S. women. Racial minorities are a particularly vulnerable population. The increasing female veteran population has an higher prevalence of certain cardiovascular risk factors compared with non-veteran women; however, little is known about gender and racial differences in cardiovascular risk factor control among veterans. Methods: We used analysis of variance, adjusting for age, to compare gender and racial differences in three risk factors that predispose to CVD (diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia) in a cohort of high-risk veterans eligible for enrollment in a clinical trial, including 23,955 men and 1,010 women. Findings: Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) values were higher in women veterans than men with age-adjusted estimated mean values of 111.7versus 97.6mg/dL (. p