BACKGROUND:Inability to resume employment after acute myocardial infarction (MI) has important implications for patients. We sought to assess the prevalence of and outcomes associated with adverse change in employment after MI in a national US cohort. METHODS AND RESULTS:The TRANSLATE-ACS study (Treatment with Adenosine Diphosphate Receptor Inhibitors: Longitudinal Assessment of Treatment Patterns and Events after Acute Coronary Syndrome) assessed employment status at baseline and 1 year among 9319 patients with MI (mean age, 60.8 years; SD, 11.3; 27.3% women) enrolled at 233 US hospitals. We defined adverse change in employment as patients working at baseline but working less or not working at 1-year post-MI. In multivariable models, we assessed factors associated with adverse change in employment and its association with patient-reported depression, health status, persistence to evidence-based medications prescribed at discharge, and financial hardship affording medications. Half of the patients (51%; n=4730) were employed at the time of MI. By 1 year, 10% (n=492) of these reported an adverse change in employment, with 3% (n=143) working less and 7% (n=349) no longer working (only 27 of 349 reported retirement). Factors significantly associated with adverse change in employment included a number of unplanned readmissions, postdischarge bleeding complications, hypertension, and smoking. At 1 year, patients with an adverse change in employment were more likely to report depression (Patient Health Questionnaire 2 score >3: 27.4% versus 16.7%), lower health status (mean EuroQoL visual analogue scale: 73 [SD, 17.8] versus 78 [SD, 14.8]), and moderate-extreme financial hardship with medication costs (41.0% versus 28.4%; all P<0.001). There was no difference in persistence to evidence-based medications prescribed at discharge. CONCLUSIONS:Patients who experienced an adverse change in employment after MI reported lower quality of life, increased depression, and more difficulty affording medications. These results underscore the need for interventions to address this patient-centered outcome and its health impact. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION:URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01088503.

Background

Angina has important implications for patients' quality of life and healthcare utilization. Angina management after acute myocardial infarction (MI) treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is unknown.

Methods and results

TRANSLATE-ACS (Treatment With Adenosine Diphosphate Receptor Inhibitors: Longitudinal Assessment of Treatment Patterns and Events After Acute Coronary Syndrome) was a longitudinal study of MI patients treated with percutaneous coronary intervention at 233 US hospitals from 2010 to 2012. Among patients with self-reported angina at 6 weeks post-MI, we described patterns of angina and antianginal medication use through 1 year postdischarge. Of 10 870 percutaneous coronary intervention-treated MI patients, 3190 (29.3%) reported angina symptoms at 6 weeks post-MI; of these, 658 (20.6%) had daily/weekly angina while 2532 (79.4%) had monthly angina. Among patients with 6-week angina, 2936 (92.0%) received β-blockers during the 1 year post-MI, yet only 743 (23.3%) were treated with other antianginal medications. At 1 year, 1056 patients (33.1%) with 6-week angina reported persistent angina symptoms. Of these, only 31.2% had been prescribed non-β-blocker antianginal medications at any time in the past year. Among patients undergoing revascularization during follow-up, only 25.9% were on ≥1 non-β-blocker anti-anginal medication at the time of the procedure.

Conclusions

Angina is present in one third of percutaneous coronary intervention-treated MI patients as early as 6 weeks after discharge, and many of these patients have persistent angina at 1 year. Non-β-blocker antianginal medications are infrequently used in these patients, even among those with persistent angina and those undergoing revascularization.

Background Persistence to P2Y12 inhibitors after myocardial infarction (MI) remains low. Out-of-pocket cost is cited as a factor affecting medication compliance. We examined whether a copayment intervention affected 1-year persistence to P2Y12 inhibitors and clinical outcomes. Methods and Results In an analysis of ARTEMIS (Affordability and Real-World Antiplatelet Treatment Effectiveness After Myocardial Infarction Study), patients with MI discharged on a P2Y12 inhibitor were stratified by baseline out-of-pocket medication burden: low ($0-$49 per month), intermediate ($50-$149 per month), and high (≥$150 per month). The impact of the voucher intervention on 1-year P2Y12 inhibitor persistence was examined using a logistic regression model with generalized estimating equations. We assessed the rates of major adverse cardiovascular events among the groups using a Kaplan-Meier estimator. Among 7351 MI-treated patients at 282 hospitals, 54.2% patients were in the low copay group, 32.0% in the middle copay group, and 13.8% in the high copay group. Patients in higher copay groups were more likely to have a history of prior MI, heart failure, and diabetes compared with the low copay group (all P<0.0001). Voucher use was associated with a significantly higher likelihood of 1-year P2Y12 inhibitor persistence regardless of copayment tier (low copay with versus without voucher: adjusted odds ratio [OR], 1.44 [95% CI, 1.25-1.66]; middle copay: adjusted OR, 1.63 [95% CI, 1.37-1.95]; high copay group: adjusted OR, 1.41 [95% CI, 1.05-1.87]; P interaction=0.42). Patients in the high copay group without a voucher had similar risk of 1-year major adverse cardiovascular events compared with patients in the high copay group with a voucher (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.89 [95% CI, 0.66-1.21]). Conclusions Medication copayment vouchers were associated with higher medication persistence at 1 year following an MI, regardless of out-of-pocket medication burden. Registration URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov; Unique identifier: NCT02406677.

Among patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI) who have multivessel disease, it is unclear if multivessel percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) improves clinical and quality-of-life outcomes compared with culprit-only intervention. We sought to compare clinical and quality-of-life outcomes between multivessel and culprit-only PCI. Among 6061 patients with acute MI who have multivessel disease in the TRANSLATE-ACS (Treatment With Adenosine Diphosphate Receptor Inhibitors: Longitudinal Assessment of Treatment Patterns and Events After Acute Coronary Syndrome) study, we used inverse probability-weighted propensity adjustment to study the associations between multivessel and culprit-only intervention during the index PCI and major adverse cardiovascular events, unplanned all-cause readmission, and angina frequency at 6 weeks and 1 year. Multivessel PCI was performed in 1208 (20%) of patients with MI who had multivessel disease. Relative to the culprit-only intervention, patients receiving multivessel PCI were similarly aged and more likely to be seen with non-ST-segment elevation MI or cardiogenic shock. At 6 weeks, the initial multivessel PCI strategy was associated with lower major adverse cardiovascular events and unplanned readmission risks, whereas angina frequency was not significantly different between multivessel and culprit-only PCI. At 1 year, major adverse cardiovascular event risk was persistently lower in the multivessel PCI group (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.84; 95% confidence interval, 0.72-0.99), whereas long-term readmission risk (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.94; 95% confidence interval, 0.84-1.04) and angina frequency were similar between groups (adjusted odds ratio, 1.01; 95% confidence interval, 0.82-1.24). Similar associations were seen when patients with ST-segment elevation MI and non-ST-segment elevation MI were examined separately. Among patients with acute MI who have multivessel disease, multivessel PCI was associated with lower risk of all-cause readmission at 6 weeks and lower risk of major adverse cardiovascular events at 6 weeks and 1 year. However, similar short- and long-term angina frequencies were noted.

Background Hospitals commonly provide a short-term supply of free P2Y₁₂ inhibitors at discharge after myocardial infarction, but it is unclear if these programs improve medication persistence and outcomes. The ARTEMIS (Affordability and Real-World Antiplatelet Treatment Effectiveness After Myocardial Infarction Study) trial randomized hospitals to usual care versus waived P2Y₁₂ inhibitor copayment costs for 1-year post-myocardial infarction. Whether the impact of this intervention differed between hospitals with and without pre-existing medication assistance programs is unknown. Methods and Results In this post hoc analysis of the ARTEMIS trial, we examined the associations of pre-study free medication programs and the randomized copayment voucher intervention with P2Y₁₂ inhibitor persistence (measured by pharmacy fills and patient report) and major adverse cardiovascular events using logistic regression models including a propensity score. Among 262 hospitals, 129 (49%) offered pre-study free medication assistance. One-year P2Y₁₂ inhibitor persistence and major adverse cardiovascular events risks were similar between patients treated at hospitals with and without free medication programs (adjusted odds ratio 0.93, 95% CI, 0.82-1.05 and hazard ratio 0.92, 95% CI, 0.80-1.07, respectively). The randomized copayment voucher intervention improved persistence, assessed by pharmacy fills, in both hospitals with (53.6% versus 44.0%, adjusted odds ratio 1.45, 95% CI, 1.20-1.75) and without (59.0% versus 48.3%, adjusted odds ratio 1.46, 95% CI, 1.25-1.70) free medication programs (P_interaction=0.71). Differences in patient-reported persistence were not significant after adjustment. Conclusions While hospitals commonly report the ability to provide free short-term P2Y₁₂ inhibitors, we did not find association of this with medication persistence or major adverse cardiovascular events among patients with insurance coverage for prescription medication enrolled in the ARTEMIS trial. An intervention that provided copayment assistance vouchers for 1 year was successful in improving medication persistence in hospitals with and without pre-existing short-term medication programs. Registration URL: https://www.clini​caltr​ials.gov/. Unique identifier: NCT02406677.