McSweeney J C, Crane P B
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, College of Nursing, Little Rock 72205, USA.
Res Nurs Health. 2000 Apr;23(2):135-46. doi: 10.1002/(sici)1098-240x(200004)23:2<135::aid-nur6>3.0.co;2-1.
In this qualitative study the researcher identified symptoms women experienced prior to and during an acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The purposive nonprobability sample for this descriptive naturalistic study consisted of 40 women. Using content analysis and constant comparison, the researcher identified specific symptoms and grouped them according to time of occurrence, prodromal and acute. Thirty-seven women experienced prodromal symptoms, beginning from a few weeks to 2 years prior to their AMI and ranging from 0 to 11 symptoms per woman. The most frequent prodromal symptoms were unusual fatigue (n = 27), discomfort in the shoulder blade area (n = 21), and chest sensations (n = 20), whereas the most frequent acute symptoms were chest sensations (n = 26), shortness of breath (n = 22), feeling hot and flushed (n = 21), and unusual fatigue (n = 18). Only 11 women experienced severe pain during their AMI. Conclusions of this study are threefold: (a) women identified classic and unique symptoms of AMI, which challenge the content of current educational literature; (b) women experienced a gradual progression of number and severity of AMI symptoms; and (c) women need sufficient time to recognize their prodromal symptoms of their AMI.
在这项定性研究中，研究者确定了女性在急性心肌梗死（AMI）之前及期间所经历的症状。这项描述性自然主义研究的立意性非概率样本由40名女性组成。通过内容分析和持续比较，研究者确定了特定症状，并根据出现时间将其分为前驱症状和急性症状。37名女性出现了前驱症状，始于AMI前几周至2年，每位女性出现的症状数量为0至11种。最常见的前驱症状是异常疲劳（n = 27）、肩胛骨区域不适（n = 21）和胸部感觉（n = 20），而最常见的急性症状是胸部感觉（n = 26）、呼吸急促（n = 22）、潮热（n = 21）和异常疲劳（n = 18）。只有11名女性在AMI期间经历了剧痛。本研究的结论有三点：（a）女性确定了AMI的典型和独特症状，这对当前教育文献的内容提出了挑战；（b）女性经历了AMI症状数量和严重程度的逐渐发展；（c）女性需要足够的时间来识别她们的AMI前驱症状。
