Heart failure in women.

Although the incidence of heart failure is less in women than in men, prevalence is similar and heart failure is a major cause of morbidity and mortality for women as it is for men. Survival rates are better for women, but women are hospitalized more often for heart failure than men despite being more compliant with medical therapy. Quality of life for women with heart failure may be worse than that in men, with potentially important consequences given the impact of quality of life on mortality in patients with heart failure. Relatively few women are enrolled in heart failure studies and clinical trials. In the major heart failure clinical trials, no study enrolled more than 30% women and few analyzed separately the treatment responses of women and men. Future researches must begin to enroll large numbers of women in heart failure studies and must examine women's unique responses.