Pre-hospital delay in patients with myocardial infarction: an observational study in a tertiary care hospital of northern Bangladesh

BACKGROUND: Delayed hospital presentation is a hindrance to the optimum clinical outcome of modern therapies of Myocardial infarction (MI). This study aimed to investigate the significant factors associated with prolonged pre-hospital delay and the impact of this delay on in-hospital mortality among patients with MI in Northern Bangladesh.

METHODS: This cross sectional study was conducted in December 2019 in cardiology ward of a 1000-bed tertiary care hospital of Bangladesh. Patients admitted in the ward with the diagnosis of myocardial infarction were included in the study. Socio demographic data, clinical features and patients' health seeking behavior was collected in a structured questionnaire from the patients. Median with interquartile range (IQR) of pre hospital delay were calculated and compared between different groups. Chi-square (χ2) test and binary logistic regression were used to estimate the determinants of pre-hospital delay and effect of pre-hospital delay on in-hospital mortality.

RESULTS: Three hundred thirty-seven patients was enrolled in the study and their median (IQR) pre-hospital delay was 9.0 (13.0) hours. 39.5% patients admitted in the specialized hospital within 6 h. In logistic regression, determinants of pre-hospital delay were patients age (for