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Are manual gestures, verbal descriptors and pain radiation as reported by patients reliable indicators of myocardial infarction? Preliminary findings and implications

Albarran, J. W.; Durham, B.; Chappel, G.; Dwight, J.; Gowers, J.; Albarran, John

Authors

J. W. Albarran

B. Durham

G. Chappel

J. Dwight

J. Gowers

John Albarran



Abstract

Patients experiencing an episode of acute chest pain need to be assessed promptly and effectively to ensure optimal management. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there were specific aspects of patients' symptom reports which could be viewed as additional indicators of myocardial infarction (MI) and contribute to the assessment process. The sample consisted of 267 patients who presented with an episode of acute chest pain. Methods of data collection were based on, or modified from, previous studies which had investigated the use of manual gestures, choice of verbal descriptors and extent of pain radiation in patients with and without MI. To determine whether these variables were of significance in the diagnosis, the responses of those with (n = 118) and without MI (n = 149) were compared. The results suggest that it is currently impossible to draw any conclusions as to whether the variables studied can be judged as reliable indicators of MI. The findings indicate that there are some differences between the groups particularly in the language used. Moreover, women with MI characterized their symptoms through stronger emotive words such as 'worrying' (P = 0.014) 'frightening' and 'intolerable' and also differed from their male counterparts in their reports regarding pain radiation. Implications for practice and for research are discussed. © 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.

Citation

Albarran, J. W., Durham, B., Chappel, G., Dwight, J., Gowers, J., & Albarran, J. (2000). Are manual gestures, verbal descriptors and pain radiation as reported by patients reliable indicators of myocardial infarction? Preliminary findings and implications. Intensive and Critical Care Nursing, 16(2), 98-110. https://doi.org/10.1054/iccn.2000.1484

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Apr 1, 2000
Journal Intensive and Critical Care Nursing
Print ISSN 0964-3397
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Not Peer Reviewed
Volume 16
Issue 2
Pages 98-110
DOI https://doi.org/10.1054/iccn.2000.1484
Keywords manual gestures, verbal descriptors, pain radiation, patients, indicators, myocardial infarction
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1092715
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1054/iccn.2000.1484