Background: Geographical variations in cardiovascular mortality have been reported in Sweden as well as in other countries. Little attention has been given to possible variations in symptoms, actions and pre-hospital delay times in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients, as a reason for this diversity. We aimed to study whether STEMI patients from the northern and southern parts of Sweden differ in symptoms and actions that may affect the pre-hospital delay times.

Methods: SymTime was a multicentre cross-sectional survey study where STEMI patients admitted to the coronary care unit completed a validated questionnaire within 24 hours after admission. In total, 531 patients were included, 357 in the southern and 174 in the northern part of Sweden.

Results: There were no significant differences in age. However, patients in the north had more often hypertension (52 vs 42%, p=0.02) or other concomitant comorbidities (24 vs 14%, p=0.01). Patients in the south experienced more anxiety (14 vs. 7%, p=0.01) and fear (23 vs. 14%, p=0.02) and more often contacted the emergency medical services (EMS) as first medical contact (FMC) (54 vs 44%, p=0.05). There were no differences in other main or associated symptoms or in pre-hospital delay times. 

Conclusions: Patients with STEMI in the southern vs. the northern part of Sweden had more anxiety and fear, despite that they were less often alone at onset of symptoms. There were no differences in pre-hospital delay times. Although patients from the southern region contacted EMS as their FMC more frequently, it is still worrying that too few patients utilize the EMS.