Cardiovascular Medication Prescriptions Before First Myocardial Infarction in Patients With and Without Previously Diagnosed Atherosclerotic Disease: an Analysis of Linked Prospectively Collected Electronic Healthcare Records

Large randomised trials have shown that cardiovascular medications prescribed to patients at high cardiovascular risk are effective in reducing the incidence of cardiovascular events. Their use is recommended in the United Kingdom and international guidelines (e.g. the National Institute of Clinical Excellence). However, these medications do not prevent cardiovascular events in all patients and there is now a body of research investigating the effects of cardiovascular medications on outcomes in myocardial infarction (MI), including clinical presentation, infarct size and post-MI mortality. However, the independent effects of cardiovascular drugs on post-MI all cause mortality are unclear, and there are limitations to many of the published studies in terms of their cardiovascular drug exposure data. This project utilizes prospectively collected data on cardiovascular drug use, and links to MI data from hospital and mortality records.