Women forced to wait more than five times ‘longer than men for heart failure diagnosis’

Women are forced to wait more than five times longer than men for a heart failure diagnosis, a new study has found.

Researchers discovered women are 96 per cent more likely to get an incorrect diagnosis of heart failure than men – attributing sharp disparities to such problems being wrongly viewed as “a man’s disease”.

The study, conducted by leading heart failure charity the Pumping Marvellous Foundation, found men said they waited an average of just over three and a half weeks to get a formal diagnosis after their first GP visit, but women waited just over 20 weeks instead.

Researchers warned such delays were linked to “poorer quality of life, financial losses, mental health issues and avoidable deaths” – adding that health professionals do not give heart failure the same attention and gravity as cancer and other diseases.

"One of them [GP] actually said, your symptoms are probably not to do with your heart because you’re young and you’re female. Even though my father had a heart condition," says Sarah, who was diagnosed at the age of 42.

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Source: The Independent, 27 August 2020