Pre-hospital and hospital delay in patients with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndromes in tertiary care.

Background: Early presentation is desirable in all cases of acute prolonged chest pain. Causes of delayed presentation vary widely across geographic regions because of different patients' profile and different healthcare capabilities.

Objectives: To detect causes of delay of Non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS) patients in our country.

Methods: Patients admitted with NSTE-ACS were included. We recorded the time delay between the onsets of acute severe symptoms till their arrival to the hospital (Pre-hospital delay). We also recorded the time delay between the arrival to hospital and the institution of definitive therapy (hospital delay). Causes of pre-hospital delay are either patient- or transportation-related, while hospital delay causes are either staff- or system-related.

Results: We recruited 315 patients, 200 (63.5%) were males, 194 (61.6%) hypertensives, 180 (57.1%) diabetics, 106 (33.7%) current smokers and 196 (62.2%) patients had prior history of cardiac diseases. The mean pre-hospital delay time was 8.7 ± 9.7 h. Sixty-six percent of this time was due to patient-related causes and 34% of pre-hospital delay time was spent in transportation. The mean hospital delay time was 2.3 ± 0.95 h. In 89.8% of cases, the hospital delay was system-related while in 10.2% the reason was staff-related. The mean total delay time to definitive therapy was 11.0 ± 9.8 h.

Conclusion: Pre-hospital delay was mainly patient-related. Hospital delay was mainly related to healthcare resources. Governmental measures to promote ambulance emergency services may reduce the pre-hospital delay, while improving the utilization of healthcare resources may reduce hospital delay.