• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.659-669
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• 2000

Many patients of acute myocardial infarction showed delay time before seeking treatment although they needed immediate thrombolytic therapy once they perceived their symptoms. The objectives of this study were to identify the relationship between clinical symptoms and the delay, and to find the time spent before seeking the treatment. This study was a retrospective research. The delay time for the treatment consisted of the length of delay from symptom onset to patients' decision (T1), from patients' decision making to finding transportation (T2), and from taking transportation to the first hospital arrival(T3). The subjects were 89 patients who were admitted in the ICU and Cardiac Ward at Chonnam University Hospital with the first attack of acute myocardial infarction. Center, USA The data was collected for three months from March 1st to May 31st of 1998 through questionnaires and reviewing patients' charts: The chart information was suppled by two nurses working at the ICU and Cardiac Ward. The data was analyzed by using frequency, mean and ANOVA through the SAS program. The results of study summarized as follows: 1. Sixty two patients (69.7%) were male and twenty seven patients (30.3%) were female, the ratio of male to female was 2.3 : 1. 2. In daily life, the 70.8% of the patients felt chest pain and discomfort fatigue in 67.4%, dyspnea in 57.3%, and pain in arm, neck, and jaw in 52.8%. During the attack, 97.8% of the patients felt chest pain and discomfort dyspnea in 82.1%, pain in arm, neck, jaw in 67.4% and perspiration in 51.7%. 3. The length of time a patient spent seeking time for treatment (T1+T2+T3) was 94.6 minutes, in which the time for patients' decision making for treatment (T1) was 70.3 minutes, time for finding transportation (T2) was 8.2 minutes, and time for the transportation of the patient to the first hospital (T3) was 16.1 minutes. Time for patients' decision making to go to a hospital(T1) was 74.2% of the total time sought for treatment. 4. The differences of time sought for treatment between perceptions about the seriousness of the symptoms were significant (F= 6.5, p< .01). The more serious the heart symptoms they felt, the shorter the seeking time for treatment. 5. The differences of the time delay before treatment between the degree of the symptoms were significant (F= 2.9, p< .05). The patients with the typical chest pain and discomfort spent shorter the seeking time for treatment than those with the atypical symptoms of acute myocardial infarction. 6. The differences of transportation time to the first hospital between the types of cars that the patients used, were significant (F= 4.3, p< .01). When the patients used 119 or 129 they spent the least time (5.3 minutes) for transportation, and followed by way of an ambulance (15.6 minutes), private car (20.6 minutes), and taxi (24.8 minutes).

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.323-333
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• 2000

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of situational, clinical and psychsoical factors on treatment-seeking behavior among those with acute myocardial infarction(AMI). This study used a retrospective, descriptive design. The sample consisted of 72 patients aged over 30 and who were diagnosed with an acute myocardial infarction at two large university-affiliated medical centers from July 1, 1998 to March 30, 2000. But of 72, patients 5 who were an outlier in treatment-seeking time were deleted. Data were collected by using questionnaires, which included demographic data, situational, clinical and psychosocial data. Also patient interviews and chart review were used to obtain information related to treatment-seeking time. The results of this study were summarized as follows ; 1. Mean time from the onset of AMI symptoms to arrival at the hospital was $12.09{\pm}11.44$ hours; 2. Treatment-seeking time was not significantly different by age, gender, or education; 3. Most(44 or 65.78%) patients were at home when they began having AMI symptoms. The remaining patients were either in a public area, workplace or in a car. Patients at home delayed longer than those who had their first symptoms elsewhere, but not significantly different. Also, most patients were with another person when they began to experience AMI symptoms: a spouse(25 or 37.3%), other family member(31 or 46.3%); the remaining 11 were alone. There were no significant differences in treatment-seeking time based on whether alone or with others. Most patients(46 or 68.7%) used an ambulance rather than taking private transportation, and patients who used an ambulance were delayed longer than those who used private transportation, but there were no significant differences; 4. Time to treatment-seeking was not significantly different by blood pressure, heart rate on admission and the peak CK-MB, CPK and Cholesterol level, Killips class; 5. There were no significant statistical differences in treament-seeking times by anxiety level, mood status or control ability.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.605-613
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• 1999

The main purposes of this study were to determine the time interval between the onset of symptoms of myocardial infarction and treatment-seeking time and to identify the factors related to the interval time. This study used a retrospective design. The sample consisted of 45 patients aged over 30 who were diagnosed with an acute myocardial infarction at two large university affiliated medical center from September 1, 1997 to June 30, 1998. Data was collected by using questionnaries, which included demographic data, permonitory clinical signs and symtoms of myocardial infarction, and a measure of the severity of the signs and symptoms. Also semi-structured interviews and chart reviews were used to obtain information related to treatment-seeking time. The results of this study are summarized as follows ; 1. The most frequent premonitory clinical symptom was chest pain(92.9%), the second, was perspiration(81.0%), and the next were nausea(40.5%) and dyspnea(38.1%). Thirty two patients reported having more than four premonitory signs and symtoms. Patients described the characteristics of chest pain as “somethings very heavy pressing down”(26.2%), “felt like my chest would burst”(24.4%), or “sharp pain”(16.7%), Over 95% of the sample reported having chest pain. 2. Twenty two (52.4%) patients reported to have “very severe” premonitory pain. 3. The mean time interval between the onset of signs and symptoms and the arrival at the medical center was 6.39$\pm$10.80 hours in 42 samples, the mean time from the onset to arrival at a local hospital was 3.27$\pm$5.39 hours and for transfer from a local hospital to the medical center was 4.75$\pm$9.87 hours in patients who had arrived at medical center via local hospital. 4. The severity of premonitory signs and symptoms did not differ significantly according to existence of premonitory signs and symptoms. 5. There was no significant relationship between treatment-seeking time and age, gender, marital status, economic status, occupation, or residence. But education had significant relationship(r＝－0.51, p＝0.01). Analysis of difference of the time interval according to the premonitory signs and symptoms showed that the time was shorter in patients who experienced nausea or dyspnea(U＝115.50, p＝0.01, U＝132.00, p＝0.04), however the severity of premonitory signs and symptoms did not have statistical significance.

• Korean Circulation Journal
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• v.53 no.9
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• pp.594-605
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• 2023

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the Asia-Pacific region, and mortality rates differ between countries in the region. Systems of care have been shown to play a major role in determining AMI outcomes, and this review aims to highlight pre-hospital and in-hospital system deficiencies and suggest possible improvements to enhance quality of care, focusing on Korea, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia as representative countries. Time to first medical contact can be shortened by improving patient awareness of AMI symptoms and the need to activate emergency medical services (EMS), as well as by developing robust, well-coordinated and centralized EMS systems. Additionally, performing and transmitting pre-hospital electrocardiograms, algorithmically identifying patients with high risk AMI and developing hospital networks that appropriately divert such patients to percutaneous coronary intervention-capable hospitals have been shown to be beneficial. Within the hospital environment, developing and following clinical practice guidelines ensures that treatment plans can be standardised, whilst integrated care pathways can aid in coordinating care within the healthcare institution and can guide care even after discharge. Prescription of guideline directed medical therapy for secondary prevention and patient compliance to medications can be further optimised. Finally, the authors advocate for the establishment of more regional, national and international AMI registries for the formal collection of data to facilitate audit and clinical improvement.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.707-712
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• 2013

In patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), the delay from symptom onset to hospital arrival has a critical effect on morbidity and mortality. This study examined to find out the determinants of the prehospital delay in patients with AMI. The study sample consisted of 597 patients hospitalized with AMI between Jan and Dec 2009. Demographic, medical history, and clinical data were abstracted from the hospital medical records of patients with confirmed AMI, the prehospital delay was categorized as less than or greater than 6 hours. Older age, low socioeconomic status(medical aid), and low use of Emergency medical system were associated with delays in seeking emergency care for Acute myocardial infarction. Education programs to improve patient knowledge of acute coronary syndrome symptoms and promote patient responsiveness with regard to seeking medical care should be used to reduce the prehospital delay time, especially in the low socioeconomic group.

• Clinical and Experimental Emergency Medicine
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.264-271
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• 2018

Objective For patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), symptoms assessed by emergency medical services (EMS) providers have a critical role in prehospital treatment decisions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of EMS provider-assessed cardiac symptoms of AMI. Methods Patients transported by EMS to 4 study hospitals from 2008 to 2012 were included. Using EMS and administrative emergency department databases, patients were stratified according to the presence of EMS-assessed cardiac symptoms and emergency department diagnosis of AMI. Cardiac symptoms were defined as chest pain, dyspnea, palpitations, and syncope. Disproportionate stratified sampling was used, and medical records of sampled patients were reviewed to identify an actual diagnosis of AMI. Using inverse probability weighting, verification bias-corrected diagnostic performance was estimated. Results Overall, 92,353 patients were enrolled in the study. Of these, 13,971 (15.1%) complained of cardiac symptoms to EMS providers. A total of 775 patients were sampled for hospital record review. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of EMS provider-assessed cardiac symptoms for the final diagnosis of AMI was 73.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 70.8 to 75.7), 85.3% (95% CI, 85.3 to 85.4), 3.9% (95% CI, 3.6 to 4.2), and 99.7% (95% CI, 99.7 to 99.8), respectively. Conclusion We found that EMS provider-assessed cardiac symptoms had moderate sensitivity and high specificity for diagnosis of AMI. EMS policymakers can use these data to evaluate the pertinence of specific prehospital treatment of AMI.

• The Korean journal of internal medicine
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.1111-1118
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• 2018

Background/Aims: Chest pain is an essential symptom in the diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). One-third of patients with ACS present atypically, which can influence their receiving timely lifesaving therapy. Methods: A total of 617 NSTEMI patients from the Korea Acute MI Registry (KAMIR) and the Korea Working Group on MI (KorMI) databases were analyzed. The study population was divided into two groups by symptoms at presentation (typical symptoms group, 128; atypical symptoms groups, 128). Results: In this study population, 23% of patients presented without chest pain. After propensity score matching, the contact-to-device time ($2,618{\pm}381minutes$ vs. $1,739{\pm}241minutes$, p = 0.050), the symptoms-to-balloon time ($3,426{\pm}389minutes$ vs. $2,366{\pm}255minutes$, p = 0.024), and the door-to-balloon time ($2,339{\pm}380minutes$ vs. $1,544{\pm}244minutes$, p = 0.002) were significantly higher in the patients with atypical symptoms than in those with typical symptoms, respectively. Atypical symptoms were an independent predictor for 1-year mortality (hazard ratio, 2.820; 95% confidence interval, 1.058 to 7.515; p = 0.038). The Kaplan-Meier estimates showed higher risk for 12-month mortality in patients with atypical symptoms (p = 0.048) and no significant difference for 12-month major adverse cardiac events (p = 0.487). Conclusions: Acute myocardial infarction patients with atypical symptoms were not rare in clinical practice and showed a high risk of delayed reperfusion therapy. After imbalance between the groups was minimized by use of propensity score matching, patients who presented atypically had a high mortality rate.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.888-898
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• 2009

Purpose: This study was conducted to examine and compare clinical manifestations and predicting factors for treatment-seeking delay among patients <65 and ${\geq}65\;yr$ with first-time acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Methods: A total of 288 patients who were diagnosed with ACS were individually interviewed at C university hospital in G-city from November 2007 to December 2008. Results: Median pre-hospital delays for younger and older patients were 5 and 12 hr, respectively. Younger patients were more likely to be current smokers, heavy drinkers, obese, stressed, and have an unhealthy diet and family history, and to complain of chest pain, left shoulder and arm pain, perspiration, and nausea. Older patients were more likely to have hypertension and diabetes, and to complain syncope and dyspnea. Logistic regression analyses showed that after adjustment for age, gender and education, progressive onset of symptom and no attribution to cardiac problem significantly predicted pre-hospital delay >3 hr in both younger and older patients. Low perceived health status was a significant independent predictor in older patients only. Conclusion: Health care providers should be concerned with different manifestations between younger and older adults, and educate people at risk for heart attack about symptoms and actions to get immediate help.

• 대한상한금궤의학회지
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-19
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• 2021

Purpose : Sayeok-tang (Sini decoction, SND) is a cold-dispelling formula used for cold deficiency syndrome and is composed of Aconiti Lateralis Radix Preperata, Zingiberis Rhizoma, and Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma. It is used for diseases such as myocardial infarction, heart failure, acute and chronic gastroenteritis, and gastric effusion. This study proposes the possibility of expansion of basic research and clinical applications for ischemic heart disease (IHD) through systematic analysis of domestic and foreign studies on SND. Methods : We collected studies within the last 10 years on the use of SND in IHD and excluded those lacking relevance. Selected studies were classified by research method and the main themes of the studies were analyzed for each classification. Result: Out of 15 studies, there were 5 animal studies, 8 metabolite analyses in animals, 1 in vitro study, and 1 systematic review. Our review suggests that SND may be used as an adjuvant to nitroglycerin and percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, and may improve symptoms and quality of life of patients with IHD. Myocardial protective effects through antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, and anti-hypertensive actions were confirmed through these studies. Effects on carbohydrate, protein, and lipid metabolism were also reported. Conclusions : This study suggests that SND has potential as a treatment for IHD.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.59-74
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• 1998

Clinical observation was done on 272 cases of patients who were diagnosed as CVA with brain CT, TCD, MRI scan and clinical observation. They were hospitalized in the oriental medical hospital of Kyung-Won University from 1st January to 31st December in 1997. 1. The cases were classified into the following kinds: cerebral infarction, cerebral hemorrhage. and transient ischemic attack. The most case of them was the cerebral infarction. 2. There is no significant difference in the frequency of strokes in male and female. And the frequency of strokes was highest in the aged over 50. 3. In cerebral infarction the most frequent lesion was the territory of middle cerebral artery, and in cerebral hemorrhage the most frequent lesion was the basal ganglia. 4. The most ordinary preceding disease was hypertension. and the next was diabetes. 5. The rate of recurrence was high in cerebral infarction. 6. The cerebral infarction occurred usually in resting and sleeping, and the cerebral hemorrhage in acting. 7. The common symptoms were motor disability and verbal disturbance. 8 The average time to start physical therapy was 1l.3rd day after stroke in cerebral infarction and it was 15.2th day after stroke in cerebral hemorrhage. 9. The common complications were urinary tract infection, pneumonia, myocardial infarction. 10. Hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia are usually found more frequently in cerebral infarction than in hemorrhage. 11. In acute or subacute stage, the methods of smoothening the flow of ki(順氣), dispelling phlegm(祛痰), clearing away heat(淸熱) or purgation(瀉下) were frequently used. and in recovering stage, the methods of replenishing ki(補氣), tonifying the blood(補血) or tranquilization(安神) were frequently used.