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Published on: August 9, 2024

Chest pain and subsequent consultation for coronary heart disease: a prospective cohort study

Peter R Croft1, Elaine Thomas

  • 1Primary Care Musculoskeletal Research Centre, Keele University, Keele.

The British Journal of General Practice : the Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners
|January 25, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Self-reported chest pain, even without prior diagnosis, is a significant indicator of future coronary heart disease (CHD) consultations. This finding emphasizes the importance of recognizing chest pain symptoms for early CHD risk assessment.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • General Practice
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Chest pain is a critical, yet often unreported, early indicator of coronary heart disease (CHD).
  • General practice records may not capture initial chest pain symptoms, potentially delaying CHD diagnosis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if self-reported chest pain predicts future consultations for coronary heart disease (CHD).
  • To assess the predictive value of chest pain in individuals without a prior CHD diagnosis.

Main Methods:

  • A population-based study involving a survey and 7-year follow-up via General Practitioner (GP) record linkage.
  • The Rose angina questionnaire was administered to 4002 adults; GP records identified participants with no prior CHD consultation.
  • Prospective comparison of CHD consultation incidence between participants with and without self-reported chest pain.

Main Results:

  • A total of 2229 participants with no prior CHD consultation were included in the 7-year prospective study.
  • 558 participants reported chest pain, with 103 meeting angina criteria.
  • Individuals reporting chest pain showed a higher incidence of CHD consultations over 7 years, independent of age.

Conclusions:

  • Self-reported chest pain serves as a valuable marker for future coronary heart disease (CHD) diagnosis.
  • Further research is needed to establish the clinical utility of early identification based on chest pain symptoms.
Abstract

Keywords:
anginachest paincoronary diseaseepidemiologyreferral and consultationscreening

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