Association between the use of 4 recommended drug categories and patient perceptions of health status following an ACS event.
BACKGROUND
Four categories of medication have been shown to reduce mortality following an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) event: (a) antiplatelets, (b) beta-blockers, (c) statins, and (d) angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs).


OBJECTIVE
To determine the association between use of 1 or more of 4 categories of evidence-based medications and patient-perceived health status.


METHODS
Data from the registry of a large university-based health system were used for an analysis of prescribing at discharge following an inpatient hospitalization for ACS. Use of evidence-based medications and patientperceived health status were measured in a telephone survey administered 6 to 12 months (mean [SD] = 10 [3.5] months) after hospital discharge. Surveys were conducted from January 2002 through March 2005. Subjects were included in the survey if they were prescribed at least 1 of the 4 evidence-based drug categories at the time of discharge. Each patient was assigned to 1 of 5 groups (range: 0 to 4) based on the number of drug categories self-reported by the patient as current at the time of the survey. Patient-perceived health status was assessed using the question "How would you rate your health at the present time?" using a 5-point scale from excellent (1) to poor (5). Mean perceived health status scores for each of the 4 evidence-based medication categories were compared using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Multivariate logistic regression determined the association between patient-perceived health status-dichotomized to excellent/ very good/good versus fair/poor - and the evidence-based medication group, controlling for patient demographics and comorbidities. P values of < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.


RESULTS
A total of 393 of 1,206 patients (32.6%) responded to the survey between 6 and 12 months after discharge for an ACS event. The mean (SD) patient-perceived health status ranged from 3.3 (1.1) for patients with no (0) self-reported evidence-based medications (n = 14) to 2.5 (1.0) for patients with 4 evidence-based medications (n = 130, P = 0.028), indicating higher self-perceived health status for patients who were taking more of the evidence-based medications. Using patients with no (0) evidencebased medications as the comparator, the odds of higher patient-perceived health status were multiplied by 8.2 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.7- 37.9, P = 0.007) for those with 4 medications, 9.3 (95% CI = 2.0-43.4, P = 0.004) for those with 3 medications, 4.9 (95% CI = 1.1-22.6, P = 0.041) for those with 2 medications, and not significantly different for those with 1 medication (odds ratio = 2.5, 95% CI = 0.4-14.4, P = 0.316). Younger age, prior myocardial infarction, and recurrent ACS events occurring between discharge and the survey date were significantly associated with poorer perceived health status.


CONCLUSIONS
Better patient-perceived health status was associated with use of a greater number of evidence-based medications for patients with ACS.
Erickson
Steven V
SV
University of Michigan, College of Pharmacy, 428 Church St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1065, USA. serick@umich.edu
Rangarajan
Krishna
K
Kline-Rogers
Eva M
EM
Smith
Dean E
DE
Eagle
Kim A
KA
D054058:Acute Coronary Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D047228:Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor Blockers / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000806:Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001294:Attitude to Health; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012008:Recurrence; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies
D047228:Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor Blockers; D000806:Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors