Arch Intern Med
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Multicenter Study
Communitywide trends in the use and outcomes associated with beta-blockers in patients with acute myocardial infarction: the Worcester Heart Attack Study.
Despite the benefits associated with beta-blocker therapy in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), limited recent data are available describing the extent of use of this therapy and the associated hospital and long-term outcomes, particularly from the perspective of a population-based study. Data are also limited about the characteristics of patients with AMI who do not receive beta-blockers. This study examines more than 2 decades of trends in the use of beta-blockers in hospitalized patients with AMI. ⋯ The results of this observational study demonstrate encouraging trends in the use of beta-blockers in hospitalized patients with AMI and document the benefits to be gained from this treatment.
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Access to health insurance influences the amount and quality of health care received, which in turn is likely to be related to survival. Few studies have systematically examined cancer survival by individual level health insurance data from a state population-based cancer registry for 4 anatomic sites. ⋯ These findings confirm purported disparities in cancer care and point toward the need to make quality care accessible to all segments of the population.