Only 30 percent of women in the survey remembered chest discomfort, which they usually described as aching, tightness, or pressure, but not pain.
“Women need to understand that the appearance of new symptoms could warn of imminent heart attack or developing heart disease, especially if they have other cardiovascular risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, being overweight, or a family history of heart disease,” Professor McSweeney said.
In earlier studies, Professor McSweeney and her colleagues found that women who remembered a variety of symptoms in the month before their heart attacks either ignored the signs or were misdiagnosed when they sought medical help.
Women also tend to have different symptoms during heart attacks.