ST segment elevation myocardial infarction or STEMI is a particular type of heart attack that’s caused when the blood supply to the heart has been blocked for a very long period of time. STEMI heart attacks generally cause damage to the large areas of the heart muscles.
As a result, they cause changes both in chemical markers in the blood as well as electrocardiograms or ECGs. By some estimates, STEMI heart attacks are responsible for 29 to 38 percent of all heart attacks.
While health care is certainly good in the United States, it may not be the best place to be if you suffer a STEMI heart attack.
According to the results of a recent study published in the January 4, 2012 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, STEMI heart attack patients in the United States have a higher rate of readmittance to the hospital after 30 days than heart attack patients in other countries.
The day 30 mark for readmission to the hospital after a STEMI heart attack is a measure which has been promoted to gauge patient care.
One of the problems with using a 30-day measure as a gauge of heart attack patient care was the lack of research regarding international readmission rates. To obtain information on international readmission rates, a team of researchers led by Robb D. Kociol, M.D., of Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., examined data results from 5,571 participants in the Assessment of Pexelizumab in Acute Myocardial Infarction study.
The Pexelizumab study was a large multinational study with data collected on STEMI patients in 296 sites encompassing 17 different countries. Data was collected from July, 2004 to May, 2006.
After analyzing the data, researchers found that the 30-day readmittance rate for heart attack patients in the United States was almost 15 percent compared with nearly 10 percent for participants located in other countries.
Other findings included:
• Patients with multi-vessel heart disease were twice as likely to be readmitted as those without multi-vessel heart disease.
• Patients in the United States had 68 percent risk of readmission over those in other countries.
• U.S. patients had the shortest average hospital stay with the majority -- 60 percent -- having an average stay of only three days. The average hospital stay in other countries was six days with German patients having the longest hospital stay at an average of eight days.
Because readmittance rates are nearly a third lower in other countries, researchers believe that rates can be lowered in the United States. Understanding how international care for heart attack patients differs from the United States may lead to insights into modifications that can be made which will prevent or lower heart attack readmission rates.
Researchers noted that U.S. patients have the shortest hospital stay, which may account in part for higher readmission rates and higher overall health care rates.
SOURCES:
Julie Steenhuysen. Heart patients have higher readmission rates. 03 Jan 2012. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/03/us-usa-heart-hospitals-idUSTRE8021W620120103
JAMA and Archives Journals (2012, January 3). Heart attack patients in the U. S. More likely to be readmitted to the hospital than patients in other countries. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 3, 2012, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120103165006.htm
Types of Heart Attacks. The Cleveland Clinic. 2011. http://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/disorders/cad/mi_types.aspx
Reviewed January 5, 2011
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith