HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Respond to This Article Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Banks, A. D. Articles by Dracup, K. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Banks, A. D. Articles by Dracup, K.

Factors Associated With Prolonged Prehospital Delay of African Americans With Acute Myocardial Infarction

• Background Delays in seeking treatment for signs and symptoms of acute myocardial infarction are longer for African Americans than for whites.

• Objective To determine factors associated with prolonged delay and the extent to which perceived racism influences prehospital delay in African Americans with acute myocardial infarction.

• Methods Sixty-one African Americans with acute myocardial infarction were interviewed within 1 month of hospital admission. Delay times were calculated on the basis of the interviews. Independent t tests and ² tests were used to determine factors associated with prolonged delays.

• Results Median delay was 4.25 hours and did not differ significantly between women and men (4.42 vs 3.50 hours). Most patients (69%) experienced their initial signs and symptoms at home, often witnessed by family members or friends (70%). Delay was longer for insured patients than for uninsured patients (4.45 vs 0.50 hours). Single, widowed, or divorced patients had longer delay times than did married patients (5.33 vs 2.50 hours), and patients with diabetes delayed longer than did those without diabetes (7.29 vs 3.50 hours). Perceived racism did not differ significantly between patients who delayed seeking treatment and those who did not.

• Conclusions Median delay times were substantially longer than the recommended time of less than 1 hour, reducing the benefit from reperfusion therapies. Education and counseling of patients and their families should be a major strategy in optimizing patients’ outcomes and decreasing the time to definitive treatment.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				H. L. Nguyen, J. S. Saczynski, J. M. Gore, and R. J. Goldberg Age and Sex Differences in Duration of Prehospital Delay in Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Systematic Review Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes, January 1, 2010; 3(1): 82 - 92. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. A. Turris and J. L. Johnson Maintaining Integrity: Women and Treatment Seeking for the Symptoms of Potential Cardiac Illness Qual Health Res, November 1, 2008; 18(11): 1461 - 1476. [Abstract] [PDF]

				K. Dracup The Challenge of Women and Heart Disease Arch Intern Med, December 10, 2007; 167(22): 2396 - 2396. [Full Text] [PDF]