Women, compared to men, in response to ECG stress testing are more likely to have repolarization abnormalities and inadequate heart rate responses. If a woman is on hormone replacement therapy and undergoes ECG stress testing, it is likely that the test will show a false positive ST segment depression. Better results can be obtained by adding imaging techniques. But, the best diagnostic test of all for women seems exercise echocardiography. Perhaps because women present with a greater severity of illness, their mortality and morbidity rates are increased compared to men.
Women are less likely to enroll in cardiac rehabilitation programs then are men.
In addition, women had a dropout rate. The risk of Oral contraceptives. When oral contraceptives were first introduced in 1960, they typically contained 150 micrograms of etradiol and they carried an increased risk of heart disease. Today the typical oral contraceptive contains less than 20 micrograms of estradiol. A study done between 1991 and 1994 looking at the link between MI and use of oral contraceptives concluded that oral contraceptives do not increase the risk of heart attack in women who do not have risk factors for heart disease.