Open AccessAmbulance utilization by patients with acute myocardial infarction.
Author(s) -
Michaelw . Pozen,
Mabel Berezin,
Linda Modne,
Robert J. Riggen,
William B. Hood
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.68.6.568
Subject(s) - medicine , myocardial infarction , univariate analysis , population , emergency medicine , public health , medical emergency , demography , multivariate analysis , environmental health , nursing , sociology
Fifty-five per cent (73/133) of myocardial infarction (MI) patients on Cape Cod during a three-month period reached the hospital by ambulance. the 45 per cent (60/133) not using ambulances were compared to users to identify a subpopulation to which public health programs might be directed to increase appropriate use of cardiac ambulances. Univariate analyses showed a distnce of more than ten miles from the hospital, and a prior history of MI distinguished ambulance users from non-users. Demographic/economic status, delay in seeking care, presenting symptoms, Killip class, and in-hospital mortality rates were not signigicantly different. Step-wise discriminant analysis identified four predictive variables in rank order: distance from the hospital, past history of MI, symptoms of fainting, and negative history for hypertension which correctly classified 72 per cent of our population with respect to ambulance utilization.