Abstract:
Cardiac disease is the number one killer of women. This disease far exceeds the diagnosis of breast cancer in women. Women delay seeking treatment often excluding them from definitive treatment modalities. The purpose of the study is to examine psychological factors influencing delay-seeking behaviors in women with acute myocardial infarction.Betty Neuman's Systems Model will be used as the theoretical framework for this descriptive study. Neuman's conceptual model involves a wholistic client approach. The model provides a unifying focus for nursing problem definition and for best understanding the client in interaction with the environment. Neuman's model evolves around identification of patient stressors, lines of defense, reactions, and the role the nurse plays in this model.The sample for the study will include 50 female patients admitted with the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction. Criteria for inclusion will include women who have documented 12 lead EKG changes in three or more contiguous leads, development of Q wave or 2mm ST-T wave elevation indicative of myocardial ischemia and infarction, and positive serial cardiac markers, CPK-MB and TropI, and admitted to the hospital. The sample will be obtained from a suburban hospital in Indiana. The instrument used will be the Representation of Heart Attack Symptoms (RHAS) questionnaire.The subjects will be interviewed by a nurse trained in the interview process and the Representation of Heart Attack Symptoms questionnaire 48 hours after admission. The questionnaire will include both open-ended questions and Likert-type questions. Participation is voluntary and participants may withdraw at anytime. To be included in this study patients must be able to read and speak English and be alert and oriented, and in stable condition.This study is significant because it will provide information for health care provides about psychological behavior factors in seeking treatment of women experiencing acute myocardial infarction. The information will give health care providers much needed information to provide appropriate education to the public.