Women with heart attack symptoms take far longer to get to the hospital than men do, according to a study in Ireland.

Men, meanwhile, are more likely than women to make the dangerous choice of driving themselves to the emergency room, researchers found.

The study, according to the authors, suggests that all adults - but especially women - need to be educated on the proper response to heart attack symptoms.

The findings are published in the February issue of the Journal of Advanced Nursing.

The study included 890 heart attack patients treated at six hospitals in Dublin over one year. Overall, it found, women took far longer than men did to arrive at the ER after their first symptoms - an average of 14 hours, versus three hours for men.

Women, more than men, tended to attribute their symptoms - such as chest discomfort, shortness of breath and light-headedness - to benign causes like indigestion.

In addition, both sexes had misperceptions of what a heart attack entails; many thought a heart attack would be “dramatic,” causing them to fall to the ground, clutching their chest.

But the long treatment delay among women, specifically, suggests that another long-held misperception - that heart attacks are a man’s problem - still needs to be banished, according to lead study author Dr. Sharon O’Donnell of Trinity College in Dublin.

“Women need to be much more aware of the risks they face from heart attacks and the importance of seeking prompt treatment,” she said in a statement.

In a previous study, O’Donnell and her colleagues found that women also face longer treatment delays after they arrive at the hospital - signaling a need for greater awareness of women’s heart risks even among hospital staff.

In the current study, only about 60 percent of both men and women called an ambulance to get them to the hospital. The most common alternative was to have a family member or friend drive them.

But some heart attack sufferers - mostly men - drove themselves to the ER. Overall, seven percent of men drove themselves, compared with one percent of women.

These patients typically said they did so because they thought it was the fastest way to get to the hospital. But many also admitted that they were on the verge of “collapse” once they did arrive.

“Driving during a heart attack is obviously extremely dangerous for both the driver and the general public,” O’Donnell said.

Calling an ambulance is the best move, experts advise, not only because it’s safer, but also because paramedics can begin treatment immediately, and because patients who arrive at the hospital by ambulance tend to receive treatment more promptly.

SOURCE: Journal of Advanced Nursing, February 2006.