AbstractBackground: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a common cause of death or disability in men and women, but CAD manifests differently in women. Besides traditional risk factors, diabetes and hypertriglyceridemia carry greater risk to women than men. CAD is commonly under diagnosed in women.
Objective: To study the frequency, risk factors and presenting symptoms associated with CAD.
Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in Air Force Command Hospital, Bangalore from 01 Oct 2013–31 Mar 2015 after obtaining approval from Institutional Ethical Committee. All females who were diagnosed of CAD in emergency room, medical/ cardiology OPD, intensive coronary care unit and medical wards of Command Hospital were enrolled for the study.
Results: In the present study 91.26% were post menopausal female falling in the age group of 4180yrs. Among the study subjects, 46.6% had diabetes, 62.13% had hypertension, 4.8% had past history of dyslipidemias and 52.44% were overweight or obese. 17.47% had family history of CAD or CAD risk factors.
Conclusions: Coronary Artery Disease commonly affects postmenopausal women. Overweight, Obesity, Hypertension, Dyslipidemia and Diabetes are the major risk factors in women. They present more often with atypical symptoms.