Whether patients with diabetes have different
symptoms of MI from that of patientswithout diabetes
has been researched, but with inconclusive results.
Some studies have shown that patients with diabetes
are more likely to have atypical symptoms of MI,
whereas others found no such differences.
Research
using data from the Northern Sweden Multinational
Monitoring of Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Disease (MONICA) registry found that more patients with diabetes than without delayed seeking medical
carefor2hoursormore,
but there were no major
differences between patients with and patients without
diabetes in the presentation of symptoms of MI.
To better understand how, when, and why people with
diabetes seek care for symptoms ofMI, it is important
to define the process from the experience of the first
symptoms to the act of seeking care. However, research in this area is limited. Therefore, the aim of this
study was to explore how people with diabetes experience the onset ofMI and how they decide to seek care.