Washington (OTL) - A new study suggests that people who live in low-income areas, receive much slower care in treatment for their heart attack.
The study was carried out by looking at 6,700 men and women who all had heart attacks between 1993 and 2002. The study covered communities in North Carolina, Mississippi, Minneapolis, and Maryland.
They found that 36% of them were at a hospital within 2 hours of developing symptoms.
42% arrived after a delay of two hours to twelve hours in total.
The study showed that those who lived in a medium-class neighborhood received much faster treatment. In most cases these men made it to the hospital in good time, and had no delays at the hospital.
It was also discovered that patients with Medicaid were more likely to have a long or medium versus a short delay than were patients with prepaid insurance or with prepaid insurance plus Medicare.
The study has been published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.