A randomised trial of home-versus-hospital management for patients with suspected myocardial infarction.
Home and hospital management of patients with suspected myocardial infarction were compared in a randomised trial in which a hospital-based team responded to calls from general practitioners. 500 calls were received, and 349 patients (70%) were suspected of having myocardial infarction. Of these, 24% were excluded from the trial on predetermined medical and social grounds; for the remainder (76%) there was no significant difference in the 6-week mortality between the home group (13%) and the hospital group (11%). For the majority of patients to whom a general practitioner is called because of suspected infarction, hospital admission confers no clear advantage.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003325:Coronary Care Units; D004739:England; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006699:Home Care Services; D006760:Hospitalization; D006792:House Calls; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008952:Mobile Health Units; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D010343:Patient Admission; D011897:Random Allocation; D013997:Time Factors