Women's preferences on ECG electrode placement

An interesting phenomenon has been identified in hospital settings with evidence that a greater number of males presenting with acute coronary syndrome receive more cardiac investigations and more treatment than females. There is some evidence that this is also occurring in pre-hospital settings (Daudelin et al, 2010).

Various suggestions have been put forward as to why this might be the case such as the nature of cardiac disease, the possibility that more female patients may be refusing tests, and/or the possibility that male paramedics and emergency medical technicians are less comfortable in exposing the female chest than the male chest.

Undertaken in New Zealand, this study explores women's views about having an ECG performed in out-of-hospital urgent care settings with a specific focus on their views about placement of the electrodes on their chest.

The study recruited women from different university campuses who were aged 20 years or above and who could speak English. In total, 50 females between the ages of 21 and 76 (mean 42 years) were recruited. Each participant had two ECGs: one where the electrodes were positioned ‘on’ the left breast (less exposed) and one where V3-V5 electrodes were repositioned so they were ‘under’ the breast (more exposed). Although not explicit in the main text of the paper, it was stated in the ‘Contributors’ section that Rachael Wallen collected the data so it is assumed that she performed the ECGs.