Effects of adjuvant Chinese patent medicine therapy on major adverse cardiovascular events in patients with coronary heart disease angina pectoris: a population-based retrospective cohort study

Abstract Objective: This study aimed to explore the effects of Chinese patent medicine (CPM) in reducing the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) angina pectoris and improving clinical effectiveness and provide evidence for its use as clinical adjuvant therapy. Methods: Twenty-eight thousand five hundred and seventeen patients hospitalized with CHD angina pectoris from 6 hospitals were divided into CPM group (n = 11,374) and non-CPM group (n = 17,143) to evaluate the incidence of MACE, including myocardial infarction, percutaneous coronary intervention, and coronary artery bypass grafting. Results: The incidence of MACE in the CPM group was lower than that in the non-CPM group. CPM therapy was an independent protective factor that reduced the overall risk of MACE [adjusted hazard ratio = 0.40, 95% confidence interval (0.33; 0.49)]. Patients in the CPM group who received one, two, or three types of CPM could benefit from adjuvant treatment with CPM, and taking more types of CPM was associated with a lower risk of MACE. In addition, the male population was better than the female population in taking CPM, and middle-aged people aged 55 to 64 were more suited to take CPM based on Western medicine. Conclusions: The use of CPM as adjuvant therapy can decrease the occurrence of MACE in patients with CHD angina pectoris, especially in men and middle-aged people, and the drug treatment plan should be optimized accordingly. However, this conclusion needs further verification by prospective cohort studies in the future.