The UK National Health Service: delivering equitable treatment across the spectrum of coronary disease

Source: Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes Area: Evidence > Medicines Management > References Background: Social gradients in cardiovascular mortality across the United Kingdom may reflect differences in incidence, disease severity or treatment.  It is unknown whether a universal healthcare system delivers equitable lifesaving medical therapy for coronary heart disease.  We therefore examined secular trends in the use of key medical therapies stratified by socioeconomic circumstances across a broad spectrum of coronary disease presentations, including acute coronary syndromes, secondary prevention and clinical angina. Methods: This was a cross-sectional observational analysis of nationally representative primary and secondary care data from the United Kingdom.  Data on treatments for all myocardial infarction patients in 2003 and 2007 were derived from the Myocardial Ischemia National Audit Project (n = 51,755).  Data on treatments for patients with chronic angina (n = 33,211) or requiring secondary prevention (n = 32,976) in 1999 and 2007 were ...
Source: NeLM - Cardiovascular Medicine - Category: Cardiology Source Type: news