Patient covariates by sex and median* age on first chest pain presentation
| Covariate | Ages 18–54 years | Ages 55+ years | ||||
| Women n=13 452 (47.4%) | Men n=14 932 (52.6%) | P value | Women n=12 918 (50.2%) | Men n=12 836 (49.8%) | P value | |
| Age, mean (SD) | 38.5 (10.3) | 39.2 (10.1) | <0.001 | 71.0 (10.5) | 69.4 (9.8) | <0.001 |
| SES by tertiles of RII, % | 0.051 | 0.441 | ||||
| Low SES (first tertile) | 38.4 | 39.5 | 39.0 | 38.8 | ||
| Middle SES (second tertile) | 29.6 | 28.3 | 26.2 | 26.9 | ||
| High SES (third tertile) | 32.1 | 32.2 | 34.8 | 34.3 | ||
| Main presenting sign or symptom, % | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||
| Chest pain | 82.2 | 85.9 | 75.1 | 77.2 | ||
| Arrhythmia/altered consciousness | 13.0 | 10.4 | 19.4 | 17.3 | ||
| Shortness of breath | 1.8 | 1.2 | 2.2 | 2.5 | ||
| Musculoskeletal pain | 3.0 | 2.5 | 3.4 | 2.9 | ||
| Arrived to ED by ambulance, % | 29.0 | 29.4 | 0.384 | 60.6 | 58.3 | <0.001 |
| Triage urgency score of chest pain presentation, % | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||
| Review immediately (ATS 1) or within 10 min of arrival to ED (ATS 2) | 35.5 | 44.2 | 46.4 | 52.8 | ||
| Review within 30–120 min of arrival to ED (ATS 3–5) | 64.5 | 55.8 | 53.6 | 47.2 | ||
| Time from arrival to the ED until examination by physician, % | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||
| Up to 15 min | 23.0 | 29.3 | 27.6 | 34.2 | ||
| 16–30 min | 13.3 | 14.4 | 13.6 | 13.3 | ||
| 31–45 min | 9.7 | 9.0 | 9.4 | 9.2 | ||
| 46–60 min | 7.6 | 7.1 | 7.0 | 7.0 | ||
| More than 1 hour | 46.3 | 40.2 | 42.5 | 36.2 | ||
| Diagnosed with AMI, % | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||
| No | 98.2 | 94.0 | 91.0 | 83.6 | ||
| Yes, non-ST segment elevation AMI | 1.4 | 4.1 | 7.4 | 11.9 | ||
| Yes, ST segment elevation AMI | 0.4 | 1.9 | 1.6 | 4.5 | ||
| Admission to hospital, % | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||
| No, patient discharged home from the ED | 88.9 | 81.2 | 61.8 | 49.6 | ||
| Yes, admitted to a medical ward | 7.0 | 8.4 | 24.2 | 25.0 | ||
| Yes, admitted to CCU or ICU | 4.1 | 10.4 | 14.0 | 25.4 | ||
*The median age of study participants on their first encounter was chosen as it approximately differentiated between premenopausal and postmenopausal women in the study sample.
AMI, acute myocardial infarction; ATS, Australasian Triage Scale; CCU, coronary care unit; ED, emergency department; ICU, intensive care unit; RII, relative index of inequality; SES, socioeconomic status.