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1991.04.01 : AHCPR Study -- Recognizing Symptoms of Heart Attack

April 1, 1991

U N I T E D    S T A T E S    D E P A R T M E N T    O F
      H E A L T H    A N D    H U M A N    S E R V I C E S
                         N E W S

Contact: Bob Isquith (301) 443-4100

     The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research today
announced a study to see how people can best be taught to
recognize when they are having a heart attack -- the leading
cause of death in the United States.

     The goal in teaching people to recognize symptoms of heart
attack has gained importance since the development of drugs to
dissolve blood clots in the coronary arteries.  This thrombolytic
therapy can save lives and minimize damage to the heart -- if
given within six hours of the first signs of heart attack.  But
many people do not get to a hospital in time.

     The study will be carried out in the Seattle area by the
King County (Wash.) Department of Public Health under an initial
agency grant of $790,440 to be followed by further funding for a
three-year total of approximately $1.5 million.

     The project will test different strategies and messages for
teaching people in Seattle and King County to recognize signs of
heart attack and to seek medical care promptly.  Researchers led by
Mickey S. Eisenberg, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Washington
School of Medicine, will compare the effectiveness of various
approaches by examining the volume of calls to a 911 emergency
number and how long patients' heart attacks have progressed when
they seek care.  Sixteen local hospitals are involved in the study.
 
     The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research's acting
administrator, J. Jarrett Clinton, M.D., said, "There are many
symptoms of heart attack.  People sometimes confuse them with signs
of other problems, such as indigestion.  Furthermore, people often
delay getting to a hospital quickly even when they know they're
having a heart attack.  One problem is denial.  People just can't
believe it's happening to them.  The irony is that we have this
life-saving treatment, but we have to teach people to take advantage
of it.  This study is a major step in that direction."

    HHS Assistant Secretary for Health James O. Mason, M.D., who
heads the U.S. Public Health Service, said, "Several studies have
shown that the drug streptokinase -- or two newer drugs, TPA and
APSAC -- can reduce the death rate in heart attacks dramatically. 
Thus, if we can help patients recognize they are having a heart
attack so they get to a hospital, we will have a much better chance
of saving their lives and health."

     AHCPR, the newest agency of the Public Health Services within
HHS was created in December 1989.  It is responsible for research
aimed at improving the effectiveness of medical treatment, quality
of care and access to health services.
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