The Quality of Symptoms in Women and Men Presenting to the Emergency Department With Suspected Acute Coronary Syndrome.
Sahereh Mirzaei, Alana Steffen, Karen Vuckovic and 4 others
PMID 30738603WHAT IT FOUND
Chest pain descriptors did not distinguish patients ruled-in from ruled-out for ACS.
Overall symptom distress was higher in ACS, and women reported chest pressure more often than men.
Key findings
01Overall symptom distress was higher in patients ruled-in for ACS than in patients ruled-out for ACS.
02Chest pain descriptors of pressure, heavy, and sharp did not significantly differ between patients ruled-in and ruled-out for ACS.
03Patients ruled-in for ACS were more likely to report jaw/neck/throat pain and simultaneous arm and shoulder pain, while patients ruled-out were more likely to report upper back pain.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
This was a secondary analysis of a prospective multicenter symptom study, not a diagnostic accuracy trial. Patients who ruled-in for ACS and were not stable were excluded, so symptom characteristics of unstable ACS are not represented. Location and radiation were combined in the questionnaire, so the exact response to each could not be separated. Pain location responses were combined into nine themes for analysis because of many different responses and small cell sizes. 28.7% of eligible patients refused to participate because of fatigue, anxiety, or lack of interest, which may have affected the sample. The sample was English-speaking and drawn from five United States emergency departments, so results may not apply to other settings. The supplied text does not report a pre-registered primary outcome or diagnostic accuracy metrics.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The supplied text does not state a funding source.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that chest pressure, heaviness, or sharpness diagnoses ACS. The descriptors did not significantly differ between patients ruled-in and ruled-out, and this was an observational symptom study, not a diagnostic test.