Association of increasing age with receipt of specialist care and long-term mortality in patients with non-ST elevation myocardial infarction

作者：Zaman M Justin^*; Fleetcroft Robert; Bachmann Max; Sarev Toomas; Stirling Susan; Clark Allan; Myint Phyo Kyaw

来源：Age and Ageing, 2016, 45(1): 96-103.

DOI：10.1093/ageing/afv162

• acute coronary syndrome
• older people
• quality of health care
• survival

Background: observational studies suggest that older patients are less likely to receive secondary prevention medicines following acute coronary syndrome (ACS).
Objectives: to examine the association of increasing age with receipt of specialist care and influence of specialist care on long-term mortality in patients with non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI).
Design: a cohort study.
Setting: National ACS registry of England and Wales.
Subjects: a total of 85,183 patients admitted with NSTEMI between 2006 and 2010.
Methods: logistic regression analyses to assess receipt of secondary prevention medicines (ACE inhibitor, beta-blocker, statin, aspirin) by age group; multivariate Cox regression models to examine longitudinal effect of cardiologist care on all-cause mortality by age group.
Results: mean age 72.0 years (SD 13.0 years), mean follow-up was 2.13 years. Older patients received less cardiologist care (70.2% of NSTEMI patients a parts per thousand yen85 years compared with 94.7% of patients < 65) years and had more co-morbidity. Cardiologists prescribed more secondary prevention in all age groups than generalists, but this was mostly explained away by co-morbidity (receipt of statin crude OR 1.51 (1.27,1.80), fully adjusted OR 1.11 (0.92,1.33) in patients a parts per thousand yen85 years). Receiving cardiologist care compared with generalist care was associated with a decreased risk of death in all even after adjustment for co-morbidity, disease severity and secondary prevention; this benefit reduced incrementally with older age group (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 0.58 (0.49,0.68) aged < 65; 0.87 (0.82,0.92) aged a parts per thousand yen85).
Conclusion: older patients with NSTEMI were less likely to see a cardiologist, but reduced treatment by generalists was explained away by co-morbidity. Cardiologist care was associated with lower mortality in all age groups than a generalist, but this survival benefit was less pronounced in older patients.

• 出版日期2016-1