Evaluating disparities in door-to-EKG time for patients with noncardiac chest pain.

Introduction: Our objective was to examine gender, racial, and age differences in door-to-EKG time in patients diagnosed with non-cardiac chest pain.
Methods: This was a prospective cohort study of adult patients with an explicitly stated chief complaint of chest pain at an urban, academic ED. Primary study outcome variable was time to initial EKG. Predictor variables included gender, race, and age.
Results: The final sample consisted of 214 patients. The overall median time to EKG in this cohort of patients was 29 minutes. No difference in time to EKG was found between gender or racial category. Time to EKG was significantly greater for patients in age categories 18-39 and 40-59 when compared with subjects greater than 60 years old.
Discussion: In this prospective cohort study of non-STEMI/ACS patients with a chief complaint of chest pain, there were no gender or racial disparities in door-to-EKG time.