Evaluation of factors affecting access times for care of patients with acute st elevation myocardial infarction; study of the Dokuz Eylül University Hospital

INTRODUCTIONMyocardial infarction is the ischemic necrosis of the myocardium as a result of insufficient coronary blood circulation. Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is the leading cause of mortality and morbidity. The main factors determining survival after acute myocardial infarction are to ensure coronary blood flow quickly and to treat the complications early. Causes of delay for STEMI patients admitted to Dokuz Eylul University Hospital (DEUH) emergency department are unknown.In our study, we planned to research the time to access to the emergency department, duration of diagnosis in the emergency department and the factors affect these times for ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients admitted to our emergency department.METHODS:All data of patients older than 18 and admitted to DEUH emergency department between 13.02.2012 and 30.04.2012 with ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) were used.WHO criteria were used for the diagnosis of STEMI. The demographic characteristics such as age, gender, comorbid diseases, occupation, education and how many people live at home (alone or not alone) and whether these factors affect the delay for hospital admission or not were searched. Prepared questionnaire forms were used. The 2010 ACS guide of the U.S. Society of Cardiology (AHA) criteria were used for admission time, ECG extraction and diagnosis time.RESULTS:86 STEMI patients admitted to our emergency department during the study period were included in the study. Mean age was 61.2 and 24.4 % were female. 52.3% of patients admitted at the emergency room late. Diabetes mellitus is found to be associated with delay in seeking emergency room to be determined. Mean diagnosis time was 17 minutes.CONCLUSION:DM has led to delay in admission to hospital. The most common cause for delay was to wait to pass. The first ECG, diagnosis and consultation times in our emergency department comply with international standards.KEY WORDS:ST elevation myocardial infarction, emergency, delay