FREQUENCY AND FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR DELAYED ARRIVAL OF MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION (STEMI) PATIENTS TO HOSPITAL

Abstract

Objective: To determine frequency and factors leading to delayed arrival ofpatients of AMI to a tertiary care hospital.

Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted at National Institute ofCardiovascular Disease, Karachi from December 2011 to June 2012. Patients ofSTEMI who were admitted in NICVD were interviewed within 72 hours ofadmission that included demographic and clinical data.

Result: A total of 200 patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) wereincluded in this study. Out of them 149(74.5%) were male and 51(25.5) werefemale. The average age of the patients was 54.29±12.28 years. The averagetime taken from the onset of symptom to arrival at hospital was 5:48±6:24 h:min. Similarly, average distance traveled was 12.53±7.89 km. Frequency ofdelayed arrival (>1hours) of patients was observed in 142(71%) cases while58(29%) patients arrived within 1 hours (not delay). Most of the patients usedpublic transport to arrive at hospital whereas only 21.5% patients usedambulance.

Conclusion: The factors found responsible for delay in arrival at hospital wereilliteracy, low income, long distance from hospital, hypertension and use ofpublic transport.