Causes for Pre-hospital and in-hospital delays in acute myocardial infarction at tehran teaching hospitals

Abstract

A cross-sectional analytical method is used to study the causes for pre-hospital and in-hospital delays in referral and admission of patients suffering from acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in three Tehran teaching hospitals. Data collected using a two-sectional questionnaire from a sample of 80 patients (49 males, 31 females) is examined. The first section relates to demographic characteristics of the patients and some information related to pre-hospital delays and the second section consists of the elapsed time for decision making and in-hospital delays. Patients were further divided into two groups: those admitted to the Coronary care Unit (CCU) less than six hours following the onset of their symptoms and those admitted to CCU more than six hours following symptom onset. Statistical software was used to analyse the data. The mean time from the onset of symptoms to CCU admission was 23 hours and 12 minutes, whereas, the median time was 10 hours and 40 minutes. A significant relationship exists between the elapsed time for decision making and the causes for pre-hospital delays.