The first community-based study published in the Lancet showed that 55% of the cardiac and stroke deaths reported in India are due to delays in seeking care. According to the study, which was done at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in New Delhi, only a tiny percentage of patients with cardiac and stroke crises arrive at health facilities on time.

Dr. Anand Krishnan, correspondence author of the Centre for Community Medicine, AIIMS, explained that in acute cardiovascular emergencies such as stroke, delayed treatment is a predictor of poor outcomes. He revealed that in a community in northern India, they investigated the presence of delays in obtaining adequate care among individuals who died as a result of cardiac or stroke events.

The findings showed only 10.8% of the deceased reached an appropriate health facility within one hour. He explained that interventions that reduce treatment delays in patients with myocardial infarction (MI) are expected to cut mortality risk by 30%.

He noted that the team conducted a social audit among all civilly registered premature deaths among patients aged between 30 and 69 years due to acute cardiac events or strokes in the district.

The results of the study showed that nearly half of the deceased did not visit any health facilities during their terminal illness. They also observed that only 1 in 10 subjects reached an appropriate health facility within the first hour after the onset of the symptoms. Those staying closer to a facility or families with higher incomes were more likely to reach the facility within the first hour. 

(Source: https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/health/55pc-of-cardiac-deaths-in-india-caused-by-delay-in-seeking-care-lancet-512718 )