Study: Women, Black Adults With Chest Pain Wait Longer in EDs

Charlotte Observer

Women and people of color experiencing chest pain often wait about 15 minutes longer emergency room care than white men, a new study from the American Heart Association reveals.

The AHA study, published May 5, used data from adults ages 18 to 55 to determine if the people of color also receive less thorough examinations by doctors. Eighty-nine percent of people of color in the study were Black.

Researchers analyzed over 4,000 patient records of those who experienced forms of chest pain from between 2014 and 2018.

Chest pain sends over 6.5 million people to the hospital each year in the United States, and is the most noted symptom of a heart attack.

But young women and people of color are given a lesser standard of care when experiencing these dangerous symptoms, the study said.

“Whether or not the differences in chest pain evaluation directly translate into differences in outcomes, they represent a difference in the care individuals receive based on their race or sex, and that is important for us to know,” Dr. Darcy Banco, lead author of the study and chief resident for safety and quality in the department of medicine at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, said in the news release for the study’s findings.

The peer review study shows women on average waited 11 minutes longer to be seen by a medical professional compared to men, and were less likely to have an electrocardiogram.

Despite similar symptoms and health, people of color experienced longer wait times than white adults, the study indicated.

Women of color waited 15 minutes longer than white women for care for initial ER evaluations. According to the study, men of color wait 10 minutes longer than white men.

This means women of color are waiting about 41% longer — 58 minutes vs. 34 minutes — than white men for initial treatment for chest pain in the emergency room, according to data from the AHA.

Banco said they were surprised to learn that the standards of care were different for genders and race beginning with the very first evaluation of a patient.

“We anticipated we might see differences later on in care (such as calling in a specialist or admitting someone to the hospital), rather than in the early evaluation (such as time to first physician contact and electrocardiogram ordering),” Banco said in the release. “We were also surprised to find differences in wait time by race, as the rate of heart attack among Black adults versus white adults is similar.”

Researchers noted that every minute counts when it comes to a potential heart attack, or cardiac episode.

“Minutes count when someone has a heart attack,” Dr. Harmony R. Reynolds, senior author of the study and director of the Sarah Ross Soter Center for Women’s Cardiovascular Research, said. “Calling an ambulance is also helpful because emergency medical technicians can treat chest pain and heart attack right away. People who arrive to the ER by ambulance often receive urgent care and attention sooner compared to people who arrive to the ER on their own.”

However, the study said most adults who have chest pains don’t end up having a heart attack. Researchers aim to answer questions in the future regarding variables such as location, ER quality and outcomes.