Awareness level of general population regarding acute chest pain in Aseer region, Southern of Saudi Arabia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20203360Keywords:
Acute chest pain, Awareness, Heart attack, Knowledge, Population, Risk factors, StrokeAbstract
Background: Myocardial infarction is caused by sudden closure of a coronary artery due to plaque rupture. Symptoms include chest pain, which travels from left arm to neck, dyspnea, sweating, nausea, vomiting, arrhythmia, anxiety, fatigue and weakness. Complications of acute myocardial infarction include papillary muscle rupture and mitral regurgitation, ventricular septal rupture, free-wall rupture, and right ventricular infarction. Adequate awareness of acute chest diseases improves medical consultation for suspected cases by general population.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional approach was used targeting all population in Aseer region. The study was conducted during the period from December 2019 to March 2020. Data were collected using structured questionnaire included person’s socio-demographic data, Participants’ family history regarding heart attack, participants’ awareness regarding acute chest pain.
Results: A total sample of 1287 respondents was included in the study. About 54% of the respondents aged 30 years or more and 65.3% were females. Only 9.2% of the participants correctly defined heart attack. Regarding symptoms, 59.9% of the participants reported left arm pain, 57.1% reported difficulty breathing and 29% told about burning sensation in middle of the chest. Totally, nearly one quarter of the participants had good awareness level regarding heart attack.
Conclusions: In conclusion, the population awareness regarding heart attack and stroke is poor. Also, population with high risk were more knowledgeable. More effort should be paid to improve the public knowledge of stroke, more effective community-based education programs should be organized constantly with screening for population at high risk.
Metrics
References
Lee TH, Goldman L. Evaluation of the patient with acute chest pain. New Eng J Med. 2000;342(16):1187-95.
Fruergaard P, Launbjerg J, Hesse B, Jørgensen F, Petri A, Eiken P, et al. The diagnoses of patients admitted with acute chest pain but without myocardial infarction. Eur Heart J. 1996;17:1028.
Bax JJ, Baumgartner H, Ceconi C, Dean V, Fagard R, Brentano FC, et al. Third universal definition of myocardial infarction. J Am College Cardiol. 2012;60(16):1581-98.
Newby DE, Grubb NR. Davidson’s Principles and Practice of Medicine: cardiology. 23rd edition, Edinburgh. 2018;485.
Lu L, Liu M, Sun R, Zheng Y, Zhang P. Myocardial infarction symptoms and treatments. Cell Biochem Biophysics. 2015;72:865-7.
Chang NL, Budzikowski AS. Complications of myocardial infarction and cardiovascular emergencies. In Cardiology Consult Manual. Springer, Cham. 2018;367-383.
Miller HI, Almagor Y, Keren G, Chernilas J, Roth A, Eschar Y, et al. Early intervention in acute myocardial infarction: significance for myocardial salvage of immediate intravenous streptokinase therapy followed by coronary angioplasty. J Am College Cardiol. 1987;9:608.
Graham G. Population-based approaches to understanding disparities in cardiovascular disease risk in the United States. Int J General Med. 2014;7:393.
Jerlock M, Johansson GF, Kjellgren KI, Welin C. Coping strategies, stress, physical activity and sleep in patients with unexplained chest pain. BMC Nursing. 2006;5(1):7.
Tavakol M, Dennick R. Making sense of Cronbach's alpha. Int J Med Education. 2011;2:53.
Benjamin EJ, Blaha MJ, Chiuve SE, Cushman M, Das SR, Deo R, et al. Heart disease and stroke statistics-2017 update: a report from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2017;135(10):146-153.
Pope JH, Aufderheide TP, Ruthazer R, Woolard RH, Feldman JA, Beshansky JR, et al. Missed diagnoses of acute cardiac ischemia in the emergency department. New Eng J Med. 2000;342(16):1163-70.
Broglio SP, Kontos AP, Levin H, Schneider K, Wilde EA, Cantu RC, et al. National Institute of neurological disorders and stroke and department of defense sport-related concussion common data elements version 1.0 recommendations. J Neurotrauma. 2018;35(23):2776-83.
Lie JD. Early management of acute ischemic stroke: focus on IV tPA and timely reperfusion. US Pharm. 2016;1:20.
Greenlund KJ, Neff LJ, Zheng ZJ, Keenan NL, Giles WH, Ayala CA, et al. Low public recognition of major stroke symptoms. Am J Preventive Med. 2003;25(4):315-9.
Aminde LN, Takah N, Ngwasiri C, Noubiap JJ, Tindong M, Dzudie A, et al. Population awareness of cardiovascular disease and its risk factors in Buea, Cameroon. BMC Public Health. 2017;17(1):545.
Greenlund KJ, Neff LJ, Zheng ZJ, Keenan NL, Giles WH, Ayala CA, et al. Low public recognition of major stroke symptoms. Am J Preventive Med. 2003;25(4):315-9.