GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE SYMPTOMS OF UNSTABLE ANGINA

这项建议的目的是确定不稳定型心绞痛的症状是否存在性别差异，这些症状不能用年龄、糖尿病或情绪来解释。描述性定量研究设计将用于确定入院前不稳定型心绞痛急性发作的症状。45名女性和45名男性将接受采访。一个开放式的问题将被用来评估患者的症状体验，用他们自己的话。测量症状、情绪和基线特征的类型、位置和严重程度的仪器将用于识别和解释症状经历。症状描述是患者进入医疗保健系统的机制。在急性情况下，使用的描述符可能会影响急诊科的分诊、心脏干预的使用和治疗过程。美国心脏协会（AHA）列出的心脏病发作和/或不稳定型心绞痛的症状和从业人员以前接受的是基于男性模型，可能不适用于女性。最近包括女性在内的研究表明，急性心肌梗死（AMI）和不稳定型心绞痛的症状可能存在性别差异。这些研究大多只包括被诊断为急性心肌梗死的患者。由于女性冠心病主要表现为心绞痛而非AMI，许多女性被排除在分析之外。这项研究将检查诊断为不稳定型心绞痛的患者，以收集迄今为止在女性中缺乏的数据。

The objective of this proposal is to determine if there are gender differences in the symptoms of unstable angina, which are not explained by age, diabetes, or mood. A descriptive, quantitative study design will be used to identify the symptoms experienced prior to admission to the hospital for an acute episode of unstable angina. Forty-five females and forty-five males will be interviewed. An open-ended question will be used to assess the patients' symptom experience in their own words. Instruments measuring type, location, and severity of symptoms, mood, and baseline characteristics will be used to identify and explicate the symptom experience. The description of symptoms is the mechanism by which patients gain entry to the health care system. In the acute setting, the descriptors used may affect triage in the emergency department, the use of cardiac interventions, and the course of treatment. The symptoms of a heart attack and/or unstable angina listed by the American Heart Association (AHA) and accepted by practitioners have previously been based on a male model and may not be applicable to women. Recent studies, which have included women, suggest that there may be gender differences in the symptoms experienced with both acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and unstable angina. The majority of these studies have included only patients diagnosed with AMI. Because CHD in women is primarily manifested by angina and not AMI, many women have been excluded from analysis. This study will examine patients diagnosed with unstable angina in order to gather data that has been heretofore lacking in women.