U.S. heart attack patients more likely to be readmitted to hospital, study finds

U.S. patients who experience a common type of heart attack were more likely to be readmitted to the hospital 30 days after discharge than patients in 15 other countries, according to a study in the Jan. 4 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Dr. Robb D. Kociol of Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C., and colleagues looked at data from 5,745 heart attack patients at 296 sites in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and 13 European countries from July 2004 to May 2006.

The study found 631 (11.3 percent) were readmitted to the hospital within 30 days from discharge. Readmission rates were higher for the United States than other countries (14.5 percent vs. 9.9 percent).

Predictors of readmission included multi-vessel disease, recurrent ischemia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic inflammatory conditions and a history of high blood pressure.

Researchers noted that significant attention has been focused on reducing hospital readmission rates for heart attack patients in the U.S. as a means of reducing health care costs. “Our analysis shows that readmission may be preventable because rates are nearly one-third lower in other countries, suggesting that the U.S. health care system has features that can be modified to decrease readmission rates,’’ researchers wrote.