Guideline adherence is associated with long-term all-cause mortality in patients after an acute coronary syndrome
Abstract Background/Introduction Guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) remains the mainstay in the long-term management of patients after an acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Data on the association of adherence to GDMT with clinical outcomes are scarce. Purpose To assess the adherence to GDMT and its relation to all-cause mortality in a population of patients after an ACS. Methods In this post-hoc analysis of the prospective, randomised IDEAL-LDL trial (NCT02927808) we analyzed data of 360 ACS patients discharged from a cardiology clinic. Median follow-up period was 35.9 (IQR 25.7–41.6) months. GDMT was assessed at discharge and at the 1-year follow-up, at which time data was collected by telephone interviews or ambulant visits. GDMT was defined as compliance with secondary prevention therapies (statin, antiplatelet, b-blocker, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACE-i) or angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB)), as per their respective indication in the 2017 STEMI and 2015 NSTE-ACS ESC Guidelines. Extended follow-up data for mortality was collected from the national health insurance electronic prescription system. Results Median age of the entire cohort was 60 (IQR-53–71) years, 18.6% were female and 55.6% suffered a STEMI. At discharge, 342 patients (95%) received statins, 331 (91.9%) proper antithrombotic therapy (86.4% on dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT), 2.5% on antiplatelet plus anticoagulant and 3% on triple therapy), 309 (85.8%) β-blockers and 217 (60.3%) ACE-i or ARB. GDMT at discharge was prescribed to 272 (75.6%) patients. The 1-year mortality rate was 4.7% (IQR, 2.5–6.9) and there was no mortality benefit for GDMT (HR=0.77 95% CI 0.27 - 2.2) (Figure 1a). At the one-year follow up, 323 (94.2%) of 343 alive patients received statin treatment (72.4% of which a high-intensity statin), 330 (96.2%) any antithrombotic therapy (59.8% on DAPT, 5.2% on any anticoagulant), 263 (76.7%) a β-blocker and 194 (56.6%) an ACE-I or ARB. GDMT at one-year follow up was prescribed to 248 (72.3%) patients. Beyond one year, all-cause mortality was significantly reduced in patients receiving GDMT adjusted for age, STEMI, revascularization with percutaneous coronary angioplasty, history of diabetes mellitus and arterial hypertension. (1.6% vs 9.5%, aHR 0.3 95% CI 0.08 - 0.92) (Figure 1b). Conclusions Adherence to GDMT remains stable one year after an ACS. GDMT was associated with a significant decrease in long-term mortality, but not associated with one-year mortality. Figure 1. GDMT at baseline, at 1 year and mortality Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None