Married Men Are Quicker . . .

. . . in getting to the hospital when they have cardiac chest pain, according to a new study reported in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. I’ve pointed out before the need for speed in getting cardiac help for a heart attack (or MI), and now the problem is being looked at from various points of view.  But it’s not much good reducing in-hospital delays without looking at reasons for delay in calling 911.  

Canadian physicians set out to determine whether marital status was a predictor of the duration of chest pain endured by patients with an acute MI before they sought hospital help.  They reviewed the charts of 4,400 heart attack patients in Ontario; their average age was 67, and a third of them were women. 

Overall, the average time from the onset of pain to hospital arrival was 2 hours. About half (46%) arrived within 2 hours and about ¾ (73.6%) within 6 hours.  Men and women who were married were most likely to be in the hospital within 6 hours.  The rate was lower for the single (67.9%), divorced (68.5%), or widowed (70.8%). 

The difference for men was statistically significant, that for women was not (i.e. it could have occurred by chance alone).  The time to presentation at the hospital was, on average, about 30 minutes shorter for married subjects. 

Why wasn’t the finding in women sufficiently clear cut to reach statistical significance?  Maybe women are more likely than men to take on the role of caregiver and tell their man to call 911.  Another possible reason: women are more likely to have atypical symptoms of MI, and chest pain isn’t always paramount; and subjects without chest pain were excluded from the beginning of the analyses.  Whatever – both sexes should work at shortening the time between onset of pain and calling 911, to save more heart muscle and lives.