Prehospital delay in patients hospitalized with heart attack symptoms in the United States: The REACT trial

Background The use of thrombolytic therapy for patients with myocardial inf arction has been limited by patient delay in seeking care. We sought to cha racterize prehospital delay in patients hospitalized For evaluation of hear t attack symptoms. Methods and Results The Rapid Early Action for Coronary Treatment (REACT) i s a multicenter, randomized community trial designed to reduce patient dela y. At baseline, data were abstracted from the medical records of 3783 patie nts hospitalized for evaluation of heart attack symptoms in 20 communities. The median prehospital delay was 2.0 hours; 25% of patients delayed longer than 5.2 hours. In a multivariable analysis, delay time was longer among n on-Hispanic blacks than among non-Hispanic whites, longer at older ages, lo nger among Medicaid-only recipients and shorter among Medicare recipients t han among privately insured patients, and shorter among patients who used a n ambulance. Conclusions The observed pattern of differences is consistent with the cont ention that demographic, cultural, and/or socioeconomic barriers exist that impede rapid care seeking.