Are manual gestures, verbal descriptors and pain radiation as reported by patients reliable indicators of myocardial infarction? Preliminary findings and implications

Prehospital experiences of older men with a first myocardial infarction: a qualitative analysis within the Northern Sweden MONICA Study

“…Various sensations in the chest were the most common; however, only a few men described chest sensations as their main symptom, and the men used a variety of terms other than 'chest pain'. The verbal interaction between the patient and the emergency room personnel might therefore influence how the term 'chest pain' is understood and noted in patient records (37).…”

Characteristics and Outcomes of MI Patients with and without Chest Pain: A Cohort Study

“…[32] Another reason why older people and/or women have less chest pain may be the way they express or report their symptoms. Some studies [33,34] have reported women use different language than men when describing their symptoms of MI.…”

Women's Interpretation of their Coronary Heart Disease Symptoms

“…Related to this are the actual descriptors used by women in their verbal accounts (diagnosis is made in part from a patient's verbal history and there is, as proposed, a gender difference in the use of language). Male patients as suggested often use factual language to a greater extent whereas women are more likely to include descriptive accounts of feelings [27]. That difference results in a gendered difference in the medical management of chest pain.…”