Low awareness of heart attack symptoms

Low awareness of heart attack symptoms

High degree of awareness of heart attack symptoms in the community will go a long way in seeking early treatment. For life threatening diseases like heart attack, early recognition of symptoms and prompt reporting to the emergency department is highly desirable. But a study from United States showed that 47% were not able to recognize some heart attack symptoms while 6% were not able to recognize any heart attack symptoms.

The main heart attack symptoms assessed by the study were:

1. Chest pain or discomfort
2. Shortness of breath
3. Pain or discomfort in arms or shoulders
4. Feeling weak, lightheaded, or faint
5. Jaw, neck, or back pain

Reference

1. Mahajan S, Valero-Elizondo J, Khera R, Desai NR, Blankstein R, Blaha MJ, Virani SS, Kash BA, Zoghbi WA, Krumholz HM, Nasir K. Variation and Disparities in Awareness of Myocardial Infarction Symptoms Among Adults in the United States. JAMA Netw Open. 2019 Dec 2;2(12):e1917885. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.17885. PMID: 31851350; PMCID: PMC6991230.