Historically, CHD has been a male disease; but there has
been an increase in the number of women diagnosed with
CHD, and the mortality rate for women is greater than that
for men (Vaccarino et al. 2001). In Taiwan, 4323 women
died from the disease in 2003, and the mortality rate is two to
three times greater than for any kind of cancer (Department
of Health of Taiwan, 2004). Further, slower physical
recovery, poorer psychosocial outcome and lower quality of
life in women who undergo CABG procedures have been
reported (Artinian & Duggan 1995, Keresztes et al. 2003).
Very few studies have explored CABG outcomes with women
in international settings.