Chest pain symptoms differences between diabetes mellitus and non-diabetes mellitus patients with acute coronary syndrome: A pilot study

Background: Chest pain is considered one of the crucial indicators in detecting acute coronary syndrome (ACS), and one of the most common complaints frequently found in hospitals. Atypical characteristics of chest pain have prevented patients from being aware of ACS. Chest pain symptoms have become ambiguous, particularly for specific parameters, such as gender, diabetes mellitus (DM), or other clinical conditions. Therefore, it is critical for high-risk patients to have adequate knowledge of specific symptoms of ACS, which is frequently associated with late treatment or prehospital delay. Therefore, this study aims to identify the particular characteristics of chest pain symptoms in DM and non-DM patients with ACS. Design and Methods: This is a quantitative and non-experimental research, with the cross-sectional approach used to carry out the analytical observation at a general hospital from January- April 2019. Data were obtained from a total sample of 61 patients, comprising 33 ACS with DM and 28 ACS non-DM patients. Results: The result showed that the characteristic of patients with chest pain symptoms has a significant relation to DM and ACS. Therefore, non-DM patients with ACS are more likely to feel chest pain at moderate to a severe level, while ACS-DM patients are more likely to have low to moderate chest pain levels. Conclusion: The significant differences in the characteristics of chest pain in DM and non-DM patients suffering from acute coronary syndrome are the points of location of chest pain radiating to the neck and quality of pain.