The literature suggests that people delay too long prior to attending emergency departments with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) symptoms. This delay is referred to as prehospital delay. Patient decision delay contributes most significantly to prehospital delay.Using a randomized controlled trial, we tested an educational intervention to reduce patient prehospital delay in ACS and promote appropriate responses to symptoms.Eligible patients who were admitted across five emergency departments (EDs) in Dublin were recruited to the study (n = 1944; control: 972, intervention: 972).Median baseline prehospital delay times did not differ significantly between the groups at baseline (Mann-Whitney U, p = 0.34) (CONTROL: 4.28 h, 25(th) percentile = 1.71, 75(th) percentile = 17.37; Intervention 3.96 h, 25(th) percentile = 1.53, 75(th) percentile = 18.51). Both groups received usual in-hospital care. In addition, patients randomized to the intervention group received a 40-min individualized education session using motivational techniques. This was reinforced 1 month later by telephone. Of the 1944, 314 (16.2

作者：Mary, Mooney；Gabrielle, McKee；Gerard, Fealy；Frances, O' Brien；Sharon, O'Donnell；Debra, Moser

来源：The Journal of emergency medicine 2014 年 46卷 4期