Canadian researchers discovered multidisciplinary women's heart centers improve diagnosis as well as clinical and psychological outcomes for women with myocardial infarction or myocardial ischemia with no obstructive coronary artery disease.
The study, published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology on Sept. 6, followed 154 women with nonobstructive coronary artery disease who were patients at a women's heart center over the course of a year. Surveys collected data about their chest pain, quality of life, depression and anxiety symptoms and cardiovascular outcomes. These results were compared with a baseline.
Patients who went to a multidisciplinary women's heart center saw as much as a 17 percent increase in new or changed diagnosis for chest pain. At one year, these patients had significantly decreased chest pain and increased mental health and quality of life.