General awareness of symptoms of myocardial infarction and the need for urgent treatment: A cross-sectional, street survey in Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the golden-time-awareness of and the necessary actions in response to acute myocardial infarction among the general public.Methods: This study was conducted with the use of a descriptive research design and convenience sampling. A sample of 800 subjects, using self-structured knowledge questionnaires, was selected for data collection and analysis. The study was conducted at Dr. M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute, India, from February to November 2022. Awareness of myocardial infarction symptoms and intervention timeline (the golden time) was investigated. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the demographic factors affecting the recognition of the golden time of acute myocardial infarction.Results: A total of 800 subjects were included. Among the subjects, 367 (45.8%) were male, 433 (54.2%) were female, and 443 (55.3%) participants failed to recognize the golden time. Our multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that people with a bachelor’s degree (OR=0.41, 95% CI: 0.23-0.74, P=0.03) and a high school level diploma (OR=0.55, 95% CI: 0.31-0.97, P=0.03) are more likely to know about myocardial infarction (golden time) than illiterate people. Additionally, people who are employed (OR=0.59, 95% CI: 0.41-0.85, P=0.05) are more likely to know about myocardial infarction (golden time) than those who are not.Conclusions: The majority of people in the awareness group realize that taking myocardial infarction patients to the hospital would be the best course of action. The unawareness of the ideal treatment window for myocardial infarction may cause a delay in seeking medical attention, which can lead to an increase in mortality and morbidity.