Prevalence of aspirin use among patients calling 9-1-1 for chest pain.
OBJECTIVE
Early aspirin administration during an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) decreases morbidity and mortality. This investigation examined the extent to which patients with a complaint of chest pain, the symptom most identified with AMI by the general population, self-administer aspirin before the arrival of emergency medical services (EMS) personnel.


METHODS
In this prospective, cross-sectional prevalence study, data were derived through the analysis of EMS incident reports for patients with a complaint of chest pain from June 1, 1997, to August 31, 1997.


RESULTS
The study included 694 subjects. One hundred two (15%) took aspirin for their chest pain before the arrival of EMS personnel. Of the 322 subjects who reported taking aspirin on a regular basis, 82 (26%) took additional aspirin for their acute chest pain. Only 20 (5%) of the 370 patients who were not using regular aspirin therapy self-administered aspirin acutely (p<0.001). In addition, patients with lower intensity of chest pain (p = 0.03) were more likely to take aspirin for their chest pain.


CONCLUSIONS
Only a relatively small fraction of individuals calling 9-1-1 with acute chest pain take aspirin prior to the arrival of EMS personnel. These individuals are more likely to self-administer aspirin if they are already taking it on a regular basis. It is also possible that they are less likely to take aspirin if their chest pain is more severe.
Jaffy
M B
MB
University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, USA. jaffymb@u.washington.edu
Meischke
H
H
Eisenberg
M S
MS
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001241:Aspirin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002637:Chest Pain / Q000628:therapy*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004363:Drug Utilization; D004630:Emergencies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000517:prevention & control; D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012651:Self Medication / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors; D001241:Aspirin