The study, published in the May 17 online edition of Circulation, examined the medical records of black, white and Hispanic patients treated for heart attack at 443 hospitals using the AHA program, called “Get With The Guidelines.” The guidelines include giving medications like aspirin and blood pressure drugs, starting patients on statins to lower cholesterol and helping patients make lifestyle changes like quitting smoking.
Over the five years of the study, the rates of “defect-free care” (a combination of all the treatments for which a patient is eligible) — which at the beginning of the study were lower for blacks and Hispanics than for whites — had risen among all groups to similar rates, according to the report.
Read the HealthDay report on the study on heart attack guidelines.
