Factors impact upon prehospital time delay in patients with acute ischemic chest pain

Abstract

Time delay in seeking the medical help in patients with acute coronary syndrome worsens the prognosis and increase mortality rate from this condition, this study aims to identify the status and causes of time delay in patients with acute ischemic chest pain in seeking medical help who attend coronary care unit (CCU) in AL-Hussein teaching hospital in Kerbala. A total of 129 patients admitted to the CCU over five months period in 2012 complaining of acute chest pain, their mean age was 56.8 ±11.8 years, and 67.5 % of the patients were male. The mean time between the onset of symptoms and treatment was 13.5 ± 22.7 hours. About 50% of them arrived to the hospital after more than 2 hours of the onset of chest pain. Time delay was more in old people, women, widows, patients with low educational standards, and patients with none ST elevation acute myocardial infarction. Patients who arrive after 2 hours, 59% of them claimed that they were not aware of the seriousness of the condition and 25% of them thought that the pain was transient. In conclusion, nearly half of patients arrived to the hospital after the golden hour, 84% of them were not aware of the seriousness of the condition, this indicates the need to decrease time delay mostly by public health educational program should be intensified to improve the awareness of people to the seriousness of chest pain.