Medication adherence and readmission after myocardial infarction in the Medicare population

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To examine the relationship between 6-month medication adherence and 1-year downstream heart disease-related readmission among patients who survived a myocardial infarction (MI).STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective, nested case-control analysis of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries who were discharged alive post MI in 2008 (n = 168,882).METHODS: Patients in the case group had their first heart-disease-related readmission post MI discharge during the 6-to-9-month period or the 9-to-12-month period. We then used propensity score matching to identify patients in the control group who had similar characteristics, but did not have a readmission in the same time window. Adherence was define..