More Delays for Women in Emergency Care

A new study has found surprising evidence of delays in getting women with heart trouble to the hospital.

Researchers at Tufts Medical Center in Boston examined 5,887 emergency calls about suspected cardiac symptoms in Dallas County, Tex. About half of the calls were made by women.

Ambulances arrived just as quickly for women as for men, the researchers found. Patients of both sexes spent an average of 34 minutes in the care of emergency medical workers, including about 19.9 minutes of care on the scene and 10.3 minutes spent traveling to the hospital.

But 647 patients, about 11 percent, were delayed, spending 45 minutes or longer in the care of emergency workers.

Women were 52 percent more likely than men to be among the delayed, said Thomas W. Concannon, an assistant professor of medicine at Tufts University who was lead author of the study, published this month in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

It is not clear what caused the waits, he said, but other studies have suggested that heart problems in women are not recognized as readily by medical personnel.

Until now, much of the research on treatment delays has focused on how long a patient waits for care once he or she arrives at the hospital, not on holdups that occur en route.

“The time it takes to get to treatment is very important in cardiac care,” Dr. Concannon said. “It’s one of the most important factors in good patient outcomes.” RONI CARYN RABIN

source: health.nytimes.com