Background/Objectives
Timely administration of anti-ischemic therapies improves outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Prior literature on delays in AMI care has largely focused on in-hospital delay (“door-to-balloon” time). Our objective was to identify factors associated with pre-hospital delay in a contemporary, national cohort of older AMI patients.
Design
Cross-sectional analysis from SILVER-AMI (ComprehenSIVe Evaluation of Risk Factors in Older Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction), an observational study of older patients hospitalized for AMI.
Setting
94 U.S. academic and community hospitals.
Participants
2500 patients aged 75 or older hospitalized for AMI.
Measurements
Pre-hospital delay was defined as symptom duration ≥ 6 hours before hospital presentation and was obtained by patient/caregiver report during AMI hospitalization. Potential predictors of delay from the following domains (demographics, clinical presentation, comorbid conditions, function, and social support) were obtained through in-person assessment during the index hospitalization and medical record abstraction.
Results
Non-white race, atypical symptoms, and heart failure (HF) were significantly associated with delay (adjusted OR 1.54, p=0.002 for non-white race; adjusted OR 1.41, p=0.001 for atypical symptoms; adjusted OR 1.35, p=0.006 for HF).
Conclusion
In contrast with younger AMI populations, female sex and diabetes were not associated with delay in this older cohort. However, factors from multiple different domains (non-white race, atypical symptoms, and HF) were significantly associated with delay. These results can be used to tailor future public health efforts to encourage early presentation for older AMI patients.