Treatment-seeking decisions of women with acute myocardial infarction

Women who experience symptoms of an acute myocardial infarction (MI) are less likely than men to seek medical attention after the onset of initial symptoms. The purpose of this study was to facilitate a better understanding of the treatment-seeking decisions of women who seek emergency evaluation for symptoms suggestive of MI. A qualitative, semi-structured, feminist, post structuralist interview approach was used to explore the treatment-seeking decisions of ten women hospitalized for a MI. The oral descriptions were tape-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using the Morse and Field method. Content analysis revealed ten important issues that influenced women's treatment-seeking decisions: associating symptoms with non-cardiac causes, minimizing symptoms, experiencing non-classic symptoms, mass media portrayal, male family member experience, knowledge deficit, family insistence, experiencing increased pain, experiencing difficulty breathing, and having expectations different from realities. Based on their language and subjectivity, participants revealed the power of the meaning of heart disease on treatment-seeking decisions.