GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE SYMPTOMS OF UNSTABLE ANGINA

这项提案的目的是确定不稳定型心绞痛的症状是否存在性别差异，这不能用年龄，糖尿病或情绪来解释。将采用描述性、定量研究设计来确定因不稳定型心绞痛急性发作入院前出现的症状。将对45名女性和45名男性进行访谈。将使用开放式问题以患者自己的语言评估患者的症状体验。测量症状类型、部位和严重程度、情绪和基线特征的工具将用于识别和解释症状体验。症状描述是患者进入医疗保健系统的机制。在急性环境中，所使用的描述符可能会影响急诊科的分诊、心脏介入的使用和治疗过程。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，以及从业者接受的症状，以前是基于男性模型的，可能不适用于女性。最近的研究，其中包括妇女，表明可能有性别差异的症状经历了急性心肌梗死（AMI）和不稳定型心绞痛。这些研究中的大多数仅包括诊断为AMI的患者。由于女性CHD主要表现为心绞痛而非AMI，因此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.