Montika Bush, PhD

Over 800,000 Americans have a heart attack each year. While most people do not die from their heart attack, they are more likely to have future heart-related health problems. After a heart attack, patients may be prescribed up to four different medications and referred to cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs to reduce the risk of future heart attacks. CR programs include supervised physical activity, education and counseling. Prior research has described medication use and CR participation separately with summary values within a few months of a patient’s heart attack. A more detailed description of how people start and continue to use these prevention activities jointly in the years after a heart attack is needed. This study will use information from Medicare insurance records to produce unique flow diagrams to create a picture of medication use and CR participation over the two years following a heart attack. Diagrams will also denote when people die or are hospitalized during follow-up. Diagrams for specific groups (e.g., men and women) will also be produced to illustrate differences in heart attack recovery activities. Diagrams from this study will establish a foundation for future research to improve health after a heart attack. This work could also help health care teams offer useful and well-timed treatment adjustments for those who have had a heart attack.