Challenging the rules: Women's prodromal and acute symptoms of myocardial infarction

Abstract

In this qualitative study the researcher identified symptoms women experienced prior to and during an acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The purposive nonprobability sample for this descriptive naturalistic study consisted of 40 women. Using content analysis and constant comparison, the researcher identified specific symptoms and grouped them according to time of occurrence, prodromal and acute. Thirty-seven women experienced prodromal symptoms, beginning from a few weeks to 2 years prior to their AMI and ranging from 0 to 11 symptoms per woman. The most frequent prodromal symptoms were unusual fatigue (n = 27), discomfort in the shoulder blade area (n = 21), and chest sensations (n = 20), whereas the most frequent acute symptoms were chest sensations (n = 26), shortness of breath (n = 22), feeling hot and flushed (n = 21), and unusual fatigue (n = 18). Only 11 women experienced severe pain during their AMI. Conclusions of this study are threefold: (a) women identified classic and unique symptoms of AMI, which challenge the content of current educational literature; (b) women experienced a gradual progression of number and severity of AMI symptoms; and (c) women need sufficient time to recognize their prodromal symptoms of their AMI.

Differences Between Men and Women in Terms of Clinical Features of ST-Segment Elevation Acute Myocardial Infarction

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][16][17][18][19][20] The extent of underlying coronary atherosclerosis did not differ between women and men. Most of the women (74%) underwent percutaneous coronary interventions, similar to men.…”

“…[14][15][16][17][18][19][20] To the best of our knowledge, however, this is the first study of sex-related differences in the clinical characteristics of ST-segment elevation AMI in which all patients were interviewed by a single investigator to minimize interview-related bias. The poorer outcome of AMI in women may be related to several factors.…”

“…15 Several studies have reported that women have different or less typical symptoms of AMI than men. 14,16,17 Women are more likely to have non-chest pain, nausea or vomiting (or both), and shortness of breath. 14,[17][18][19][20] These atypical symptoms may make it difficult for not only women with AMI, but also bystanders and health-care providers to correctly interpret the situation and take appropriate action.…”

Midwest Nursing Research Society Sage Best Paper Award: The Association of Diabetes and Older Age With the Absence of Chest Pain During Acute Coronary Syndromes

“…Symptoms of ACS are a multidimensional construct; therefore, the SACSI consists of three sections, describing the type, location, and quality of symptoms. The first section includes 20 symptoms identified in the literature for patients with acute chest pain, MI, or unstable angina (Dempsey, Dracup, & Moser, 1995;McSweeney & Crane, 2000;Zerwic, 1998). Symptoms are measured on a 5-point scale: Patients indicate that they did not experience the symptom (0), or they rate the severity of each symptom as mild (1), moderate (2), severe (3), or very severe (4).…”

Metastatic Small Bowel Carcinoid Tumour: Long-Term Survival - A Case Report and Review of Literature

“…Previous findings indicate that women experienced prodromal symptoms for an average of 4 to 6 months [4]. Graham et al discovered that a small proportion of patients with acute coronary syndromes seek medical attention for prodromal symptoms in the ninety days before acute coronary syndromes.…”