A prospective descriptive study was conducted on AMI patients at three Northeastern Pennsylvania hospitals.  Patients were interviewed using the “Response to Symptoms Questionnaire.”  A substudy of patients was asked additional open-ended questions and a content analysis was completed.

     The mean age of the participants was 63.92 years old.  The majority of the participants were men (69.5%), while 30.5% were women.  In a multiple regression analysis, the following were associated with prolonged delay when experiencing AMI symptoms: being at home, mild to moderate pain, believing one had control over one’s symptoms, and being in a public place.

     Qualitative results found that participants either denied that they had a heart problem or sought medical treatment during their symptom experience.  Patients either did nothing during their initial symptoms onset or they did something to help themselves.  Participants responded that they knew to seek treatment because they had previous experience with AMI symptoms of a family member, experienced persistent symptoms, or consulted someone else who made the decision to seek treatment for them.

     The findings of this study support that individuals do delay treatment when having symptoms of AMI and are influenced by cognitive, social, and emotional factors.  Healthcare providers can use knowledge of this study to identify potential responses and situations that can affect delay time of patients in the future.