Women call ambulances for their men but not for themselves finds study

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDMar 4 2019

The Polish Registry of Acute Coronary Syndromes (PL-ACS) presented two studies this week at the Acute Cardiovascular Care 2019 a European Society of Cardiology (ESC) congress.

Here a fact emerged showing that women call ambulances for their husbands, fathers and brothers who develop symptoms of a heart attack but fail to do the same for themselves. This fiding emerges right before International Women’s day on the 8th of March is that “It’s time for women take care of themselves too.”

Image credit: Jaromir Chalabala / Shutterstock

This year the message on 8th of March is #BalanceforBetter. This is a drive to ensure gender equality around the world. The new findings reveal that ischemic heart disease or coronary heart disease that leads to heart attacks is one of the leading killers among both men and women. Management of men and women facing similar health emergencies related to the heart however are different, the experts reveal.

According to the principal investigator of the registry, Professor Mariusz Gąsior, “Very often women run the house, send children to school, and prepare for family celebrations. We hear over and over again that these responsibilities delay women from calling an ambulance if they experience symptoms of a heart attack.” Dr Marek Gierlotka, registry coordinator, also said, “In addition to running the household, women make sure that male relatives receive urgent medical help when needed. It is time for women to take care of themselves too.”

For the analysis a total of 7,582 patients were included. They had been diagnosed with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). This form of heart attack can be fatal if not treated on an emergency basis. The ideal time between the attack and stent placement to open the blockage in the artery should be 90 minutes or less say experts. Results of the study showed that 45% of patients received treatment within the recommended time but there were fewer women among these. Researchers noted that being a male was associated with timely treatment. Those who received treatment on time were also found to have lesser risk of in-hospital mortality.

Professor Gąsior said, “One of the reasons women are less likely than men to be treated within the recommended time period is because they take longer to call an ambulance when they have symptoms – this is especially true for younger women. In addition, ECG results for younger women are less often sent to the heart attack centre, which is recommended to speed up treatment.” Dr Gierlotka added, “More efforts are needed to improve the logistics of pre-hospital heart attack care in young women. Greater awareness should be promoted among medical staff and the general public that women, even young women, also have heart attacks. Women are more likely to have atypical signs and symptoms, which may contribute to a delay in calling for medical assistance.”