Ten-year mortality and repeat hospitalization have improved for Medicare beneficiaries who have experienced acute myocardial infarction (AMI), or heart attack, according to a 25-year study.
Investigators examined healthcare data from nearly 4 million Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries with AMI. They looked at 10-year all-cause mortality and hospitalization for recurrent heart attack in demographic subgroups.
For patients who survived the acute period of AMI, there were significant annual reductions in 10-year mortality and hospitalization for recurrence of 1.5% and 2.7% respectively. For patients hospitalized in 2007 to 2009, for example, 10-year mortality risk was 14% lower than for those hospitalized in 1995 to 1997. Ten-year recurrence risk was also lower — by 22% — when comparing the same time periods.
The researchers also identified a “strong association” between hospitalization for recurrent AMI and mortality. Perhaps not surprisingly, 10-year mortality after initial AMI was higher for patients who suffered another AMI when compared to those without recurrence.
In addition, men, Black patients and dually eligible patients were more likely to have adverse outcomes, “emphasizing the urgent need for prioritization of efforts to reduce inequities in long-term outcomes,” the researchers concluded.
Full findings were published in JAMA Cardiology.
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