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Impact of initial hospital diagnosis on mortality for acute myocardial infarction: A national cohort study

Wu, J; Gale, CP; Hall, M; Dondo, TB; Metcalfe, E; Oliver, G; Batin, PD; ... West, RM; + view all (2018) Impact of initial hospital diagnosis on mortality for acute myocardial infarction: A national cohort study. European Heart Journal: Acute Cardiovascular Care , 7 (2) pp. 139-148. 10.1177/2048872616661693. Green open access

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Abstract

AIMS: Early and accurate diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction is central to successful treatment and improved outcomes. We aimed to investigate the impact of the initial hospital diagnosis on mortality for patients with acute myocardial infarction. METHODS AND RESULTS: Cohort study using data from the Myocardial Ischaemia National Audit Project of patients discharged with a final diagnosis of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI, n=221,635) and non-STEMI (NSTEMI, n=342,777) between 1 April 2004 and 31 March 2013 in all acute hospitals (n = 243) in England and Wales. Overall, 168,534 (29.9%) patients had an initial diagnosis which was not the same as their final diagnosis. After multivariable adjustment, for STEMI a change from an initial diagnosis of NSTEMI (time ratio 0.97, 95% confidence interval 0.92-1.01) and chest pain of uncertain cause (0.98, 0.89-1.07) was not associated with a significant reduction in time to death, whereas for other initial diagnoses the time to death was significantly reduced by 21% (0.78, 0.74-0.83). For NSTEMI, after multivariable adjustment, a change from an initial diagnosis of STEMI was associated with a reduction in time to death of 10% (time ratio 0.90, 95% confidence interval 0.83-0.97), but not for chest pain of uncertain cause (0.99, 0.96-1.02). Patients with NSTEMI who had other initial diagnoses had a significant 14% reduction in their time to death (time ratio 0.86, 95% confidence interval 0.84-0.88). STEMI and NSTEMI with other initial diagnoses had low rates of pre-hospital electrocardiograph (24.3% and 21.5%), aspirin on hospitalisation (61.6% and 48.5%), care by a cardiologist (60.0% and 51.5%), invasive coronary procedures (38.8 % and 29.2%), cardiac rehabilitation (68.9% and 62.6%) and guideline indicated medications at time of discharge from hospital. Had the 3.3% of patients with STEMI and 17.9% of NSTEMI who were admitted with other initial diagnoses received an initial diagnosis of STEMI and NSTEMI, then 33 and 218 deaths per year might have been prevented, respectively. CONCLUSION: Nearly one in three patients with acute myocardial infarction had other diagnoses at first medical contact, who less frequently received guideline indicated care and had significantly higher mortality rates. There is substantial potential, greater for NSTEMI than STEMI, to improve outcomes through earlier and more accurate diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction.

Type: Article
Title: Impact of initial hospital diagnosis on mortality for acute myocardial infarction: A national cohort study
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1177/2048872616661693
Publisher version: http://doi.org/10.1177/2048872616661693
Language: Dutch
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: MINAP, NSTEMI, STEMI, acute myocardial infarction, mortality
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Health Informatics
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1517301
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