| 1. |
- Blohm, M, et al.
(författare)
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Reaction to a media campaign focusing on delay in acute myocardial infarction
- 1991
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Ingår i: Heart & Lung. - : Elsevier. - 0147-9563 .- 1527-3288. ; 20:6, s. 661-666
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A media campaign conducted to reduce delay time and to increase the use of ambulance transport in acute myocardial infarction was performed in an urban area with about half a million inhabitants during 1 year. The main message was that chest pain lasting more than 15 minutes might indicate acute myocardial infarction; dial 90,000 immediately for ambulance transport to the hospital. The target population was the general public. After 6 and 12 months 400 and 610 randomly chosen persons, respectively, were contacted by telephone to evaluate the reaction of the general public to the campaign. Of these, 60% and 71%, respectively, had heard of the campaign, and all parts of the message were spontaneously remembered by 15% and 19%, respectively. The reaction to the campaign was generally positive. Among all patients admitted to the coronary care unit of one of the two city hospitals, 65% were aware of the campaign and 31% of them were of the opinion that they came to the hospital faster because of the campaign. In conclusion, a media campaign aimed at reducing patient delay time in acute myocardial infarction was shown to reach a majority of people in the community and patients with ischemic heart disease. The reaction was positive and about one fifth of interviewed people spontaneously remembered the total message.
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| 2. |
- Hartford, M, et al.
(författare)
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Symptoms, thoughts and environmental factors in suspected acute myocardial infarction
- 1993
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Ingår i: Heart & Lung. - : Elsevier. - 0147-9563 .- 1527-3288. ; 22:1, s. 64-70
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: To increase our understanding of patients' reactions and behavior at onset of symptoms of myocardial infarction. PROCEDURE: During a 5-month period a questionnaire focusing on symptoms, thoughts, and environmental factors at onset of symptoms was administered to all patients admitted to the coronary care unit at Sahlgrenska Hospital in Göteborg, Sweden, because of suspected acute myocardial infarction. RESULTS: A myocardial infarction developed in 48% of the 226 patients answering the questionnaire. In 81% of the patients, chest pain was the main symptom bringing them to the hospital. Forty-three percent characterized their symptoms as an oppression or uncomfortable feeling. Eighty-five percent suspected that the pain emanated from the heart, and yet 51% hesitated to go to the hospital, mainly because they expected the pain to disappear. Efforts to relieve pain were made by 63%, (mostly with nitroglycerin), which was taken more often by patients who did not subsequently develop a myocardial infarction than by those who did. Only 50% of the patients used an ambulance for transportation to hospital. There was a significant relation between subjective assessment of severity of symptoms and 1-year mortality (p < 0.05) and rehospitalization rate (p < 0.01), respectively. CONCLUSION: The majority of patients seem to interpret the symptoms of a myocardial infarction correctly and also have a correct perception of the severity of symptoms. For only a few is the natural next step to immediately call for an ambulance to get to the hospital.
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| 3. |
- Hofgren, K, et al.
(författare)
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Word descriptors in suspected acute myocardial infarction. A comparison between patients with and without confirmed acute myocardial infarction
- 1994
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Ingår i: Heart & Lung. - : Elsevier. - 0147-9563 .- 1527-3288. ; 23:5, s. 397-403
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) will not develop in a large proportion of patients admitted to the coronary care unit because of suspected AMI. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether patients with confirmed AMI use different words to describe their pain than patients in whom AMI was not confirmed. DESIGN: A retrospective descriptive design. METHODS: The Pain-O-Meter, a verbal pain scale composed of 12 sensory and 10 emotional word descriptors, was used to assess pain. SETTING: Coronary care unit in Sahlgrenska Hospital in Goteborg, Sweden. SUBJECTS: A convenience sample of 889 consecutive patients admitted to the coronary care unit because of suspected AMI. RESULTS: SENSORY COMPONENT--patients with confirmed AMI differed from those without AMI in the use of the words "pricking" (12% vs 17%; p < 0.05) and "tearing" (11% vs 6%; p < 0.05). No difference was found in the remaining 10 words. Affective components--Patients with confirmed AMI differed from those without AMI in the use of "terrifying" (29% vs 18%; p < 0.001), "intolerable" (16% vs 10%; p < 0.01), and "worrying" (48% vs 59%; p < 0.01). Women used stronger word descriptors more frequently than men. CONCLUSION: The use of specific or more word descriptors to separate patients with AMI from those without AMI was not supported by the study data. Although patients with AMI more frequently used the sensory word tearing as well as the affective words terrifying and intolerable and less frequently used the sensory word pricking and the affective word worrying than patients without AMI, the differences do not suggest a clinical profile that can be used to differentiate these clinical entities.
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