Patients don’t recognize heart attack symptoms
All except chest pains are ignored
While most people are aware that chest pain is a heart attack symptom, other symptoms —numbness or pain in the arm, shortness of breath, sweating, nausea or vomiting, and dizzi-ness or light-headedness — are often ignored, according to results of a recent study.1
The issue is critical because clot-busters work only for a limited time after a heart attack begins, and delay may mean permanent heart damage, or even death.
The REACT (Rapid Early Action for Coronary Treatment) study surveyed more than 1,000 adults regardless of age, race, education, or household income, and nearly nine out of 10 people knew chest pain to be a heart attack symptom. But knowledge of the next most common heart attack symptom, arm pain or numbness, varied widely.
More than three-quarters of the middle- and upper-income respondents surveyed knew arm pain or numbness was a symptom, compared to just half of those with incomes under $25,000. Three-quarters of whites knew, compared to half of African-Americans and Hispanics.
Half of the people from virtually all demo-graphic divisions recognized shortness of breath as a symptom, whereas recognition of unex-plained profuse sweating as a symptom varied widely, from 25% among whites to 12% among African-Americans and 10% among Hispanics. Nearly one-third of those with incomes over $55,000 recognized sweating as a symptom, compared to just 13% of those with incomes under $25,000.
Even people who are at higher risk — smokers and those with diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol levels — did not demonstrate greater knowledge of heart attack symptoms than lower-risk persons. People with a personal his-tory of heart disease or previous experience with heart disease in the family or in a friend generally did better in recognition of symptoms.
Reference
1. Goff DC, Sellers DE, McGovern PG, et al. Knowledge of heart attack symptoms in a population survey in the United States: The REACT Trial. Arch Intern Med 1998; 158:2,329-2,338.
You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
- Award-winning Medical Content
- Latest Advances & Development in Medicine
- Unbiased Content