Treatment seeking for acute myocardial infarction symptoms: differences in delay across sex and race.

Background: Patients experiencing an acute myocardial infarction are known to delay seeking treatment between 2 and 4 hours. This delay is problematic because individuals who receive treatment 2 or more hours after the onset of symptoms are less likely to benefit from emergent reperfusion techniques. Persons most likely to delay seeking treatment for an acute myocardial infarction and their reasons have not been clearly identified.