Effects of patients and hospital characteristics on myocardial infarction mortality: health disparity outcomes.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate if patient characteristics would have significant effects on outcomes for inpatients' Myocardial Infarction (MI) with Type 2 diabetes (T2D) admitted to Non-Federal Hospitals.

Methods: We used data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project under the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (HCUP_AHRQ, 2006) and data were retrospectively analyzed. This database was the latest HCUP data available in 2008, when the study was initiated.

Results: There were significant results noted in healthcare outcomes between age, gender, insurance and patient mortality with gender and patient insurance (p < .001). Male inpatients had more major procedures than their female counterparts (p < .001). Treatment procedure effect on patient mortality was highly significant for age (p < .001) and gender (p < .0001), and more females died than expected (p < .001).

Conclusions: The implication of this study to practice is that healthcare could be more cost effective if healthcare providers are to screen and treat all patients that present with diabetic mellitus for heart and other related diseases. This venture would help detect and prevent myocardial infarction before it occurs. Discharged patients need to be followed as well to prevent frequent admissions. Prevention is better than cure.