Disparities in emergency room waiting times for chest pain patients

Emory UniversityNov 10 2009

Emory researchers present findings on ER wait times and adolescent risk-taking behavior at American Public Health Association Meeting

Emory University Rollins School of Public Health researchers will present Nov. 10 on a range of topics at the American Public Health Association's annual meeting in Philadelphia, including a study that examined compliance with national recommendations that a physician screen chest pain patients within 10 minutes of their arrival to the Emergency Department (ED).

Additional public health research findings from Emory scientists are highlighted below.

Disparities in emergency room waiting times for chest pain patients

The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association recommend an electrocardiogram be performed and shown to a physician within 10 minutes of a chest pain patient's arrival to the emergency department (ED). Emory researchers examined disparities in waiting times to see a physician for patients complaining of chest pain.

They found that only 30 percent of all chest pain patients were seen within the recommended 10 minutes. In addition, racial disparities affected all chest pain patients. African Americans were seen by an ED physician later than whites, researchers noted.

Data were extracted from the 2003-2006 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey.

Untangling the Web: An exploratory look at the impact of parental discipline and primary caregiver support on high-risk taking behavior

African-American females are at greater risk of contracting a sexually transmitted infection (STI) during adolescence as compared to other ethnic groups. The objective of this study was to test the interaction of familial factors as they relate to adolescent risk-taking behaviors.

Researchers found that caregiver support and discipline was associated with a reduction in adolescents' risk-taking behaviors, including choosing risky sexual partners, having multiple sexual partners, and drinking alcohol.

Findings were based on sociodemographic, family and self-reported data obtained from 701 African-American adolescent females ages 14 to 20 years old.