Garrido, DuniaPetrova, DafinaCatena, AndrésRamírez-Hernández, José AntonioGarcia-Retamero, Rocio2022-10-182022-10-182020-08-25Garrido D, Petrova D, Catena A, Ramírez-Hernández JA, Garcia-Retamero R. Recognizing a Heart Attack: Patients' Knowledge of Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Its Relation to Prehospital Decision Delay in Acute Coronary Syndrome. Front Psychol. 2020 Aug 25;11:2056http://hdl.handle.net/10668/4257In acute coronary syndromes (ACSs), longer decision delay - the time patients wait before seeking medical attention after symptoms have started - increases the risk of complications and death. However, many patients wait much longer than recommended and research is needed investigating how patient decision delay can be reduced. In a cross-sectional study of 120 ACS survivors, we investigated the relationship between knowledge of cardiovascular risk factors and decision delay. Several days after the onset of a cardiac event, patients completed a questionnaire measuring demographics, decision delay, objective knowledge of cardiovascular risks factors and of ACS symptoms, and subjective perceptions of symptoms during the cardiac episode. Relevant clinical data were extracted from patients' medical records. In a multiple linear regression analysis, controlling for demographic and clinical factors, objective knowledge of cardiovascular risk factors and ACS symptoms, and subjective attributions of symptoms to a cardiac cause were related to shorter decision delays. Among patients with relatively high knowledge of risk factors, only 5% waited more than 1 h to seek help, compared to 22% among patients with relatively low knowledge. These results suggest that knowledge of the factors that increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease could play a role in patient decision making during an acute cardiac event. We discuss methodological issues and potential underlying mechanisms related to decision heuristics and biases, which can inform future research.enAtribución 4.0 Internacionalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Acute coronary syndromePatient decision makingPrehospital delayKnowledgeDecision delayHeart attackCardiovascular riskSíndrome coronario agudoToma de decisionesTécnicas de apoyo para la decisiónConocimientoInfarto del miocardioFactores de riesgo para la enfermedad cardiacaMedical Subject Headings::Diseases::Cardiovascular Diseases::Heart Diseases::Myocardial Ischemia::Acute Coronary SyndromeMedical Subject Headings::Information Science::Information Science::KnowledgeMedical Subject Headings::Psychiatry and Psychology::Psychological Phenomena and Processes::Mental Processes::Thinking::Decision MakingMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Investigative Techniques::Decision Support TechniquesMedical Subject Headings::Diseases::Cardiovascular Diseases::Heart Diseases::Myocardial Ischemia::Myocardial InfarctionMedical Subject Headings::Organisms::Eukaryota::Animals::Chordata::Vertebrates::Mammals::Primates::Haplorhini::Catarrhini::Hominidae::HumansMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Investigative Techniques::Epidemiologic Methods::Epidemiologic Study Characteristics as Topic::Epidemiologic Studies::Cross-Sectional StudiesMedical Subject Headings::Diseases::Cardiovascular DiseasesMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Investigative Techniques::Epidemiologic Methods::Statistics as Topic::Probability::Risk::Risk FactorsMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Investigative Techniques::Epidemiologic Methods::Statistics as Topic::Regression AnalysisMedical Subject Headings::Persons::Persons::SurvivorsMedical Subject Headings::Information Science::Information Science::Data Collection::Records as Topic::Medical RecordsMedical Subject Headings::Health Care::Environment and Public Health::Public Health::Epidemiologic Measurements::DemographyMedical Subject Headings::Health Care::Environment and Public Health::Public Health::Epidemiologic Factors::Bias (Epidemiology)research article32982853open access10.3389/fpsyg.2020.020561664-1078PMC7477116