WEDNESDAY, Oct. 14, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- After acute myocardial infarction (AMI), younger women are less likely than younger men to initiate prescribed medications, according to a study published online Oct. 13 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.
Kate Smolina, Ph.D., from the University of British Columbia, and colleagues analyzed linked administrative data sets (health care, prescription drugs, sociodemographic, and mortality information) in British Columbia to identify individuals who were admitted to the hospital for AMI (2007 to 2009) and survived for one year after discharge.
The researchers found that more than two-thirds of AMI survivors initiated treatment on all appropriate medications, given their contraindications, within two months of discharge. Appropriate treatment was significantly more likely to be initiated by younger men than younger women (adjusted odds ratio, 1.38). Only one-third of all AMI survivors filled all appropriate prescriptions for at least 80 percent of the first year after discharge. There was no significant difference in therapy adherence between women and men.
"Overall, the majority of AMI survivors either discontinue treatment or do not refill their prescriptions consistently, suggesting that further improvements in post-AMI therapy management are necessary," write the authors.
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