Delays in Presentation by Patients with ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction: A single centre experience from Oman

OBJECTIVES: To assess the causes of delay for presentation with ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). METHODS: Patients who presented with STEMI to the Emergency Department at the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman between January 2017 and December 2019 and were admitted for primary angioplasty were included in this study. RESULTS: A total of 101 patients were included with a mean age of 54.8 + 10.8 years and the majority were male patients (n = 80; 79.2%). The median (interquartile range) pain-to-door time was 60 min (30–120 min). There were 66 (65.4%) patients who arrived within 90 minutes. All except one arrived by privately arranged transport. Feeling that the pain was not important (61.0%) or not cardiac (22.8%) were the main reasons for delay. Being diabetic was the only patient factor that predicted delay. CONCLUSION: A high proportion of patients presenting to our institution with a STEMI arrived within recommended times. However more public education is required to improve awareness about the importance of early evaluation of chest pain.