Women at risk of coronary heart disease experience barriers to diagnosis and treatment: a qualitative interview study.

Objective: To explore barriers in the health service to diagnosis and treatment experienced by women at increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD).

Design: Qualitative study using semi-structured interviews.

Setting: Norway.

Subjects: Twenty women diagnosed with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) recruited through a lipid clinic.

Results: Women reported three specific barriers related to diagnosis and treatment of CHD. They had to struggle to take a cholesterol test; they experienced that their risk was being downplayed by doctors; and that their symptoms of CHD were misinterpreted when they consulted doctors for evaluation and treatment.

Conclusion: Stereotyping CHD as a man's disease may result in barriers to diagnosis and treatment for women. Doctors should ask the patient about the family history of CHD if a concern about heart disease is on the patient's agenda.