Purpose: To identify the essential characteristics of pain which nurse have to obtain for patients with chest pain, 92 patients who were admitted in medical units to take intensive tests for heart disease were investigated cross-sectionally. Method: Duration, severity, stress, anxiety, perceived severity, number of painful area, number of accompanying symptoms, triggering activity, and pattern were included as the characteristics of pain. Ejection fraction of left ventricle and number of involved area detected by ultrasonography and number of diseased coronary artery detected by cardiac catheterization were assessed as the variables of heart disease extent. Result: Severity of pain was found to be correlated with all three variables of heart disease extent. Perceived severity and number of accompanying symptoms were correlated with two of them. Anxiety, number of painful area and pattern were related with the number of involved area. Conclusion: Pain severity reported by patients is found to be the most important variable to be obtained from patient. Variables such as perceived severity, number of accompanying symptoms, anxiety, number of painful area and pattern also have to be carefully assessed to anticipate the extent of heart disease.