Abstract:

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  Background & Aim: Myocardial infarction (MI) is one of the most common causes for hospitalization. That accounts for proximately 30% the mortality and about one half of cases occur during the early hours following the onset of symptoms just before the transfer of patient to the hospital. Thus, delay in treatment has on important effect on developing the myocardial damage and the prognosis of the patients. In this study, interval between the onset of acute chest pain and the transfer to an cardiac center was studied.

  Materials and Methods : This study is a descriptive, a kind of new data, carried out on 100 inpatients, the age range was 56 years old (66% were male and 34% were female), with acute heart attack in Rasht Dr. Heshmat hospital by using a sampling during period from June to December in 2005. The onset of acute chest pain and acceptance in cardiac center divided in three periods: 1- Onset of acute pain to help call. 2- From help call to transfer time to an initial treatment center. 3- Transfer time from the initial treatment center to the heart center. Intensity pain was studied by using from visual accordance scale (V.A.S) and range 0-10. The data were collected by using from questionnaire and then were analyzed.

  Findings: Results showed that the total length of time between the onset of chest pain and hospitalization was 230 minutes. From the onset of pain to the help call lasted 91 minutes. Transfer time to an initial treatment center (or heart center) was 55 minutes and the transfer to the heart center was 84 minutes. There was significant relation between female (P=0.05) & low intensity pain with the delay timed.