PERCEPTION, ASSESSMENT AND RESPONSE TO THE SYMPTOM ANGINA PECTORIS BY WOMEN WHO PRESENTED ACUTE CORONARY SYNDROME (IN SPANISH)

Abstract

Introduction: The coronary heart disease (CHD) is the cause number one of death in the occidental world and it is an important problem of public health with worldwide significance. In turn, the angina pectoris is the clinical symptom of the acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Objective: To describe the perception, assessment and response to the presence of the symptom angina pectoris in women who had ACS. Methods: Cross-sectional descriptive study carried out to convenience in 100 women who were diagnosed and managed as ACS in a public hospital of the city of Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. Of the medical record were taken the identity data and they were contacted for a home visit, to deal with informed consent, to apply a socio demographic data form and the tool about the experience of the symptom angina pectoris developed by Céspedes, who based it, in the experience of the conceptual model of Marilyn Dodd. The descriptive statistic was expressed in averages and percent data. Results: 100 women with average age of 69 years old, belonging principally to mediumlow and low socioeconomic strata who had previously presented ACS participated. A third of them with incomplete primary education, 28% in civil union and half of them included in contributive health regimen. The experience of the symptom angina pectoris in women was 51% as typical symptom and 49% as atypical symptom. 64% of women assessed the symptom as a cardiac problem and according to the severity, 38% considered it as sensation of death. In front of the presence of the pain, 41% of women took house medicines, 36% ignored it and the other 35% breathed deeply. 76% of women decided to go to an emergency center. Nine of each ten informed that the day in which they presented angina pectoris as symptom of ACS, they delayed less than one hour to arrive to the doctor´s office and less of one hour in being attended, since the beginning of the symptom. Conclusion: Half of the evaluated women perceived the symptom angina pectoris as atypical symptom. Although an important number of them considered it as of cardiac origin and a third initially ignored it. The assistance to the physician and the afforded attention was glaringly high before of one hour since the beginning of the angina pectoris. Rev.cienc.biomed. 2014;5(2):272-280. KEYWORDS Angina pectoris, Acute coronary syndrome, Chest pain

Keywords

• Angina pectoris
• Acute coronary syndrome
• Chest pain