Chest pain risk assessment in Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians using HEART Score

The objectives of this study were to investigate factors that correlate to cardiac events within 30 days in Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians who present to ED with chest pain and to describe the predictive ability of the HEART Score in these groups.

Patients who presented with chest pain between 1 January 2013 and 16 May 2013 in a university hospital were retrospectively enrolled in the study. HEART Scores were retrospectively assigned to participants. The study's end-point was Major Adverse Cardiac Events (MACE) within 30 days.

Participants (678) were enrolled in the study, of which 148 were Indigenous Australian. Twenty-eight percent of Indigenous Australian participants and 19% of non-Indigenous Australian participants were diagnosed with MACE within 30 days. Within the Indigenous Australian participant cohort, 1.6% of those with HEART Scores 0-3, 29% of those with HEART Scores 4-6 and 96% of those with HEART Scores 7-10 were diagnosed with MACE within 30 days. Within the non-Indigenous Australian participant cohort, 0.58% of those with HEART Scores 0-3, 17% of those with HEART Scores 4-6 and 79% of those with HEART Scores 7-10 were diagnosed with MACE within 30 days. The negative predictive value of HEART Scores 0-3 for ruling out MACE within 30 days was 98% for Indigenous participants and 99% for non-Indigenous participants.

The HEART Score is a reliable predictor of patient outcome in both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Modification of the HEART Score may not be required for use in the Indigenous Australian population who present to the ED with chest pain.