Abstract 14275: Sex Disparity of Cardiovascular Risk in Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development Countries (OECD): Finding the “Real Difference” Between Males and Females

Abstract

Background: The differences in cardiovascular risk between males and females has been well established and the real difference (utilizing the natural log function) has been used to describe sex differences in incidents like motor vehicle accident rates. However, the “real difference” has not been applied to cardiovascular outcomes previously. The purpose of this study was to apply the “real difference” to cardiovascular death rates while evaluating the relationship between the “real difference” and established economic markers. Methods: OECD Statistics, a freely available online database, was accessed for data retrieval. Male and female cardiovascular death statistics (per 100,000) in all 38 OECD countries were acquired from the freely available online database, OECD Statistics. The real difference was calculated using Ln(Male CVD Rate) - Ln(Female CVD). A multivariate analysis was run to establish the relationships between different economic markers and the calculated “real difference”. Results: Mexico was found to have the smallest real difference at 0.211 while France had the largest real difference at 0.542. Figure 1 demonstrates the variation between real and raw difference for each country. Multi-variate analysis revealed a significant effect on real difference ( F (32)=4.185, p<0.01) with 40% (R 2 =0.395) of the variation explained by the following factors- Estimated Female Earned Income (US$ PPP), Life Expectancy Gap, % of Women of Total Employment, Wage Gap, and Government Representation of Women. Discussion: The results of the multi-variate analysis demonstrate that sex disparities in cardiovascular death is related to the combined effects of multiple economic factors. The real difference is a valuable metric for assessing sex disparities and further studies should be conducted to further elucidate and account for the difference in CV mortality in different countries.