Investigating early help-seeking for non-emergency cardiac symptoms
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Gender comparisons in symptom presentation and subsequent help-seeking practices of patients referred to a rapid access chest pain clinic
IRAS ID
133680
Contact name
Nolan Stain
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Westminster
Research summary
Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) remains one of the leading causes of death in men and women worldwide (Carey et al., 2012; Nyugen et al., 2010; Maas et al., 2011). Indeed, the prevalence in the UK is one of the highest in the European Union (EU), falling within the top 10 causes for mortality (WHO 2012). It is a common perception that CHD mainly affects men; in fact, more women than men die from CHD in the US and Europe (Peterson et al., 2005; Rosamond et al., 2007; Zuchi et al., 2012). It is well documented that women have worse clinical outcomes from CHD events than men, which are mainly attributed to differences in biological make-up and anatomy (Mikhail 2006). It is also known that early presentation for cardiac symptoms is associated with improved outcome in both genders (Maas et al., 2011). Although controversial, research suggests that women delay seeking help for cardiac symptoms longer than men (Addis et al., 2003; Hunt et al., 2011; Kapur et al., 2005; Oliver et al., 2012). But, despite the extensive research in this area, studies focus narrowly on help-seeking decisions in the emergency situation of actually having a heart attack. No studies explore help-seeking decisions of patients with cardiac symptoms outside of the emergency context, leaving this cohort unexplored in the literature. The study will recruit a maximum variation sample (across age, sex and ethnicity) of patients (n=24-30) attending a rapid access clinic which specialises in the assessment of non-emergency chest pain. Medical notes and the hospital booking (PAS) system will be used to identify patients. The patients will be interviewed using semi-structured methods, with questions designed to elicit what encourages help-seeking for symptoms, explore the barriers to help-seeking, and explore any differences between men and women. The data collected from these interviews will be used to contribute to the construction of a help-seeking questionnaire for use in larger quantitative studies.
REC name
London - Fulham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/LO/0169
Date of REC Opinion
21 Jan 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion