Healthcare costs of angina in women

Abstract

This chapter examines the data on costs of cardiovascular care for women and highlights the importance of chest pain and the burden of persistent angina as driving higher costs of care. For women, a consistent body of evidence reports that women (generally) utilize more healthcare resources than men. A large component of the costs of care includes those for ongoing symptoms including the burden of angina. Within the NIH-NHLBI Women's Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation (WISE) study, costs of care were estimated for symptomatic women with and without obstructive coronary artery disease. Even women with none to mild non-obstructive coronary artery disease had predicted lifetime costs of cardiovascular care of approximately 750,000 US dollars and this amount increased for women with coronary artery disease. The economic burden of angina, even in the setting of nonobstructive CAD, is costly and can result in high lifetime costs of care. Physicians should consider the intensity of resources required to adequately care for women with angina including the financial burden of family household resources.