Study by ibs.GRANADA and the University of Granada reveals signs of a heart attack that are least recognized by the public

October 25, 2024

The Spanish Heart Barometer study, published in the international journal Social Science and Medicine, examines how people interpret different combinations of acute coronary syndrome symptoms.

Seeking medical help is more likely to be delayed unless a person has severe chest pain.

Women take longer to seek help, despite being more likely to recognize that it may be a cardiovascular disease.

Speed ​​of care in the event of a heart attack is critical to saving lives and reducing complications. It is essential that the public is aware of the possible symptoms, which can occur in different combinations, which sometimes makes it difficult to identify the disease and the need to urgently seek medical help.

A study led by Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada (ibs.GRANADA) And University of Granada (UGR)analyzed how people evaluate various manifestations of acute coronary syndrome. Researchers conducted more than 1,000 telephone interviews with people aged 55 and over living in Spain to study their reactions to four different scenarios of this pathology.

The results show that when chest pain is not felt or is mild, people tend to delay seeking help and do not realize that it may be a cardiovascular disease. “Although chest pain is usually the most common symptom, it is estimated that approximately one in five patients with acute coronary syndrome do not experience it. “Our study suggests less awareness and appropriate action for presentations that do not include severe chest pain,” he notes. Dafina Petrovaresearcher “Miguel Servet” from the A17-Epidemiology, Prevention and Control of Cancer group of ibs.GRANADA and the Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital and the first signatory of the study. “These findings highlight the importance of educating the public about the different combinations of symptoms that may occur with coronary infarction, which may or may not include chest pain,” the researcher adds.

Dr. Rocío García-Retameroprofessor of psychology at the University of Granada, highlights the gender gap in acute coronary syndrome, as various studies show that women experience chest pain less frequently than men, which may affect the correct recognition and treatment of the disease. “Our study offers new insight into this gender gap, showing that women tend to delay seeking help longer, regardless of the combination of symptoms, despite being more aware that it may be cardiovascular disease. This suggests that women’s medical decisions may be influenced by factors unrelated to disease recognition, which should be studied in more depth,” says García Retamero.

Studying “Spanish heart barometer” used an innovative methodology that allows us to assess how people in the general population, both with and without a history of cardiovascular disease, perceive various symptoms of acute coronary syndrome. This methodology overcomes some of the biases of previous studies, which focused on people who survived coronary events, excluding the most vulnerable people who did not survive.

This work, published in Social Sciences and Medicineis the result of a collaboration of experts in the fields of psychology, cardiology, public health, medicine and epidemiology from various institutions, including the Institute of Biosanitary Research ibs.GRANADA, the University of Granada, the Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital, the Andalusian Community School. Health, CIBERESP, National Epidemiological Center of the Carlos III Institute of Health and Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark.

About the research groups

Group A17-Epidemiology, cancer prevention and control focuses on research into the etiology, prevention and control of cancer, with a particular focus on epidemiology, risk factors (nutrition, environment and lifestyle) and health economics, drawing on the Granada Cancer Registry and collaborating in multicentre projects such as EPIC. For its part, the group MPE05-Translational Research in Cardiovascular Diseases focuses on the study of cardiac pathologies such as heart failure, sudden death and arrhythmias, studying their genetics, pharmacogenetics and possible treatments, with a special interest in nutrition, exercise and interdisciplinary treatment of these conditions. Both groups have strong international positions and an interdisciplinary approach in public and clinical health.

Detailed information about groups:

Bibliographic link:

Petrova D., Garrido D., Catena A., Ramirez-Hernandez J.A., Blaco M., Fernandez-Martinez N.F., Perez-Gomez B., Sanchez M.J., Garcia-Retamero R. Expected Prehospital decision-making delay in response to different groups of symptoms in acute coronary syndrome: Results of the Spanish Cardiobarometer Study. Social Sciences and Medicine. 2024, 23 August: 117263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117263