Chest pain is highly recognizable as a symptom of heart problems. But new research suggests that one in five women aged 55 or under will not experience chest pain as a symptom of heart attack.
Scientists from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) say this finding has serious implications for healthcare professionals when it comes to accurately diagnosing and treating heart attack.
They add that as many as 35% of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) do not report experiencing chest pain.
This means that they are more likely to be misdiagnosed in the emergency department and have an increased risk of death, compared with patients who do experience chest pain.
For this study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the researchers analyzed 1,015 patients who had been hospitalized as a result of ACS. Of the patients, 30% were women aged 55 or under.
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