RESEARCH REPORTS
Use of statins and beta-blockers after acute myocardial infarction according to income and education
1 National Institute of Public Health, Øster Farimagsgade 5A, DK-1399 Copenhagen K, Denmark
2 Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Bispebjerg University Hospital, Bispebjerg Bakke 23, DK-2400 Copenhagen NV, Denmark
3 Department of Cardiology, Gentofte University Hospital, Niels Andersens Vej 65, DK-2900 Hellerup, Denmark
4 Department of Cardiology, The Heart Centre, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Blegdamsvej 9, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
5 Department of Social Medicine, Institute of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 3, DK-2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark
6 Department of Epidemiology, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, J.B. Winsløws Vej 9B, DK-5000 Odense C, Denmark
Correspondence to:
Dr Jeppe N Rasmussen, Research Fellow, National Institute of Public Health, Øster Farimagsgade 5, DK-1399 Copenhagen K, Denmark; jnr{at}niph.dk
Objective: To study the initiation of and long-term refill persistency with statins and beta-blockers after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) according to income and education.
Design and setting: Linkage of individuals through national registers of hospitalisations, drug dispensation, income and education.
Participants: 30 078 patients aged 30–74 years surviving first hospitalisation for AMI in Denmark between 1995 and 2001.
Main outcome measures: Initiation of statin or beta-blocker treatment (out-patient claim of prescriptions within 6 months of discharge) and refill persistency (first break in treatment lasting at least 90 days, and re-initiation of treatment after a break).
Results: When simultaneously estimating the effect of income and education on initiation of treatment, the effect of education attenuated and a clear income gradient remained for both drugs. Among patients aged 30–64 years, high income (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 1.27; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.19–1.35) and medium income (HR 1.13; 95% CI 1.06–1.20) was associated with initiation of statin treatment compared with low income. The risk of break in statin treatment was lower for patients with high (HR 0.73; 95% CI 0.66–0.82) and medium (HR 0.82; 95% CI 0.74–0.92) income compared with low income, whereas there was a trend in the opposite direction concerning a break in beta-blocker treatment. There was no gradient in re-initiation of treatment.
Conclusion: Patients with low compared with high income less frequently initiated preventive treatment post-AMI, had worse long-term persistency with statins, but tended to have better persistency with beta-blockers. Low income by itself seems not to be associated with poor long-term refill persistency post-AMI.
Keywords: acute myocardial infarction; statins; beta-blockers; income and education; initiation and persistency
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J Epidemiol Community Health 2007 61: 1017.
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