What are some common reasons patients delay seeking treatment for an MI?
Patients may delay seeking care because their symptoms differ from their preexisting bias that a heart attack should present dramatically with severe, crushing chest pain. Approximately one third of patients with MI experience symptoms other than chest pain. Other reasons for delay in seeking treatment include 1) inappropriate reasoning that symptoms will be self-limited or are not serious; 2) attribution of symptoms to other preexisting conditions; 3) fear of embarrassment should symptoms turn out to be a false alarm; 4) reluctance to seek medical evaluation due to cost concerns or stereotypes of who is at risk for a heart attack, an especially common trait among women; 5) lack of knowledge of the importance of rapid action, the benefits of calling EMS or 9-1-1, and the availability of reperfusion therapies; and 6) attempted self-treatment with prescription and/or nonprescription medications. 