No effect of remoteness on clinical outcomes following myocardial infarction: An analysis of 43,729 myocardial infarctions in Victoria, Australia

Background: Remoteness has been shown to predict poor clinical outcomes following myocardial infarction (MI). This study investigated 1-year clinical outcomes following MI by remoteness in Victoria, Australia.

Methods: We included all admissions for people discharged from hospital following MI between July 2012 and June 2017 (n = 43,729). Remoteness was determined using the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA). The relationship between remoteness and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) and all-cause mortality over 1-year was evaluated using adjusted Poisson regression, stratified by type STEMI and NSTEMI.

Results: For NSTEMI, adjusted rates of MACE were 77.5[95% confidence interval 65.1-92.1] for the most remote area versus 83.4[65.5-106.3] for the least remote area per 1000 person-years. For STEMI, rates of MACE were 28.5[18.3-44.6] for the most versus 33.5[18.9-59.4] for the least remote areas per 1000 person-years. With respect to all-cause mortality, NSTEMI mortality rates were 82.2[67.0-100.9] for the most versus 100.8[75.2-135.1] for the least remote areas per 1000 person-years. For STEMI, mortality rates were 24.7[13.7-44.7] for the most versus 22.3[9.8-50.8] for the least remote per 1000 person-years.

Conclusions: Rates of MACE and all-cause mortality were similar in regardless of degree of remoteness, suggesting that initiatives to increase access to cardiology care in more remote areas succeeded in reducing previous disparities.