title: Adherence to guidelines for the prescription of secondary prevention medication at hospital discharge after acute coronary syndrome: a multicentre study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The prescription of guideline-recommended medication for secondary prevention after acute coronary syndrome has been suboptimal in the past. In the present study, guideline adherence and associated patient, care and hospital characteristics at hospital discharge after acute coronary syndrome were studied.
  
  
  METHODS
  Charts of patients with acute coronary syndrome discharged from 13 Dutch hospitals in 2012 were reviewed. Guideline adherence was defined as the prescription of acetylsalicylic acid, P2Y12 receptor inhibitor, statin, beta-blocker and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor at discharge, or a documented contraindication. Associated characteristics were identified by means of generalized linear mixed models for binary outcomes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total, 2471 patients were included. Complete guideline adherence was achieved in 69.1 % of the patients, ranging from 42.1 to 87.0 % between hospitals. The ACE inhibitor was most often missing (21.2 %). Patients with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction or unstable angina, patients with a history of coronary artery bypass grafting or elderly women were less likely to be discharged with the guideline-recommended medication.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Guideline adherence for secondary prevention medication following acute coronary syndrome was substantial; however, variation between hospitals and patient groups was found. Efforts to increase guideline adherence can focus on underperforming hospitals and undertreated patient groups.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public and Occupational health, EMGO+/VU University medical center, van der Boechorststraat 7, 1081 BT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, j.tra@vumc.nl.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tra
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: van der Wulp
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Appelman
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: de Bruijne
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wagner