Pre-hospital acute coronary syndrome care in Kerala, India: A qualitative analysis

Objective: Ischemic heart disease is the leading cause of death in India. Many of these deaths are due to acute coronary syndromes (ACS), which require prompt symptom recognition, care-seeking behavior, and transport to a treatment facility in the critical pre-hospital period. In India, little is known about pre-hospital management of individuals with ACS. We aim to understand the facilitators, barriers, and context of optimal pre-hospital ACS care to provide opportunities to reduce pre-hospital delays and improve acute cardiovascular care. Methods and results: We conducted a qualitative study using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with 27 ACS providers in Kerala, India to understand facilitators, barriers, and context to pre-hospital ACS care. Six themes emerged from these interviews and discussions: (1) individuals with ACS misperceive their symptoms as non-cardiac in origin; (2) emergency medical services are infrequently used; (3) insufficient pre-hospital healthcare infrastructure contributes to pre-hospital delay; (4) multiple stops are made before arriving at a facility that can provide definitive diagnosis and treatment; (5) relatively high costs of treatment and lack of widespread health insurance coverage limits care delivery; and (6) novel mobile technologies may allow for faster diagnosis and initiation of treatment in the pre-hospital setting. Conclusions: Individualized patient-based factors (general knowledge of ACS symptoms, socioeconomic position) and broader systems-based factors (ambulance networks, coordination of transport) affect pre-hospital ACS care in Kerala. Improving public awareness of ACS symptoms, increasing appropriate use of emergency medical services, and building a infrastructure for rapid and coordinated transport may improve pre-hospital ACS care

Pre-hospital policies for the care of patients with acute coronary syndromes in India: A policy document analysis

Background and objective: Ischemic heart disease is the leading cause of death in India. In high-income countries, pre-hospital systems of care have been developed to manage acute manifestations of ischemic heart disease, such as acute coronary syndrome (ACS). However, it is unknown whether guidelines, policies, regulations, or laws exist to guide pre-hospital ACS care in India. We undertook a nation-wide document analysis to address this gap in knowledge. Methods and results: From November 2014 to May 2016, we searched for publicly available emergency care guidelines and legislation addressing pre-hospital ACS care in all 29 Indian states and 7 Union Territories via Internet search and direct correspondence. We found two documents addressing pre-hospital ACS care. Conclusion: Though India has legislation mandating acute care for emergencies such as trauma, regulations or laws to guide pre-hospital ACS care are largely absent. Policy makers urgently need to develop comprehensive, multi-stakeholder policies for pre-hospital emergency cardiovascular care in India

Prevalence of coronary artery disease and coronary risk factors in Kerala, South India: A population survey – Design and methods

Background: There is paucity of reliable contemporary data on prevalence of coronary artery disease (CAD) and risk factors in Indians. Only a few studies on prevalence of CAD have been conducted in Kerala, a Southern Indian state. The main objective of the Cardiological Society of India Kerala Chapter Coronary Artery Disease and Its Risk Factors Prevalence Study (CSI Kerala CRP Study) was to determine the prevalence of CAD and risk factors of CAD in men and women aged 20–79 years in urban and rural settings of three geographical areas of Kerala. Methods: The design of the study was cross-sectional population survey. We estimated the sample size based on an anticipated prevalence of 7.4% of CAD for rural and 11% for urban Kerala. The derived sample sizes for rural and urban areas were 3000 and 2400, respectively. The urban areas for sampling constituted one ward each from three municipal corporations at different parts of the state. The rural sample was drawn from two panchayats each in the same districts as the urban sample. One adult from each household in the age group of 20–59 years was selected using Kish method. All subjects between 60 and 79 years were included from each household. A detailed questionnaire was administered to assess the risk factors, history of CAD, family history, educational status, socioeconomic status, dietary habits, physical activity and treatment for CAD; anthropometric measurements, blood pressure, electrocardiogram and fasting blood levels of glucose and lipids were recorded

Resource and Infrastructure-Appropriate Management of ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

The 143 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) of the world constitute 80% of the world's population or roughly 5.86 billion people with much variation in geography, culture, literacy, financial resources, access to health care, insurance penetration, and healthcare regulation. Unfortunately, their burden of cardiovascular disease in general and acute ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in particular is increasing at an unprecedented rate. Compounding the problem, outcomes remain suboptimal because of a lack of awareness and a severe paucity of resources. Guideline-based treatment has dramatically improved the outcomes of STEMI in high-income countries. However, no such focused recommendations exist for LMICs, and the unique challenges in LMICs make directly implementing Western guidelines unfeasible. Thus, structured solutions tailored to their individual, local needs, and resources are a vital need. With this in mind, a multicountry collaboration of investigators interested in LMIC STEMI care have tried to create a consensus document that extracts transferable elements from Western guidelines and couples them with local realities gathered from expert experience. It outlines general operating principles for LMICs focused best practices and is intended to create the broad outlines of implementable, resource-appropriate paradigms for management of STEMI in LMICs. Although this document is focused primarily on governments and organizations involved with improvement in STEMI care in LMICs, it also provides some specific targeted information for the frontline clinicians to allow standardized care pathways and improved outcomes.Cardiolog