Table 2

Data sources on treatment for CHD in primary care and secondary care in the UK, 1981–2000

Information	Source	Quality and comments
Initial treatments for acute myocardial infarction
Community CPR	Estimated using data from UK Heart Attack Study,¹¹ UK MONICA registers⁶⁹ and Scottish Heartstart.⁷⁰ Number of myocardial infarction admissions to hospital obtained from HES.	Ad hoc surveys and ambulance data only.
Hospital CPR	Number of hospital CPR patients estimated using 2000 HES data and The United Kingdom Heart Attack Study Collaborative Group,¹² BRESUS Study²⁵ and UK MONICA registers.⁶⁹	Isolated surveys only.
Thrombolysis  Aspirin  β blocker  ACE inhibitor	The United Kingdom Heart Attack Study Collaborative Group,¹² Nottingham Heart Attack Register.^10,⁷¹ UK MONICA centres in Glasgow and Belfast reported data on drugs and procedures in MI (before the event, during the event and post-event) between 1985–1995.⁶⁹	Isolated surveys, plus some data on numbers given thrombolysis. Routine information on hospital treatments for acute myocardial infarction not available.
Secondary prevention after acute myocardial infarction, CABG surgery, or angioplasty
Aspirin  β blockers  ACE inhibitors  Statins  Warfarin  Rehabilitation including exercise	Limited data on secondary prevention from General Practice Research Database report⁷² and EUROASPIRE II Study⁹	Isolated surveys and a few ad hoc audits only.
Unstable angina in hospital admissions	No routine data on therapy	No routine data.
Aspirin for community angina	Data mainly from a General Practice Research Database report⁷²	Isolated surveys only.
Heart failure treatment in hospital admissions	–	Isolated audits only.
Heart failure treatment in the community	Key Health Statistics From General Practice 1998¹³	Isolated papers.
Treatment of individual patients for hypertension	British Regional Heart Study³⁴ Caerphilly papers⁷³ and the Health Survey for England 1998¹⁶	Information limited, especially in the elderly population.