Rural-Urban Disparities in Outcomes of Myocardial Infarction, Heart Failure, and Stroke in the United States

BACKGROUND U.S. policy efforts have focused on reducing rural-urban health inequities. However, it is unclear whether gaps in care and outcomes remain among older adults with acute cardiovascular conditions. OBJECTIVES This study aims to evaluate rural-urban differences in procedural care and mortality for acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure (HF), and ischemic stroke. METHODS This is a retrospective cross-sectional study of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries aged $65 years with acute cardiovascular conditions from 2016 to 2018. Cox proportional hazards models with random hospital intercepts were fit to examine the association of presenting to a rural (vs urban) hospital and 30- and 90-day patient-level mortality. RESULTS There were 2,182,903 Medicare patients hospitalized with AMI, HF, or ischemic stroke from 2016 to 2018. Patients with AMI were less likely to undergo cardiac catherization (49.7% vs 63.6%, P < 0.001), percutaneous coronary intervention (42.1% vs 45.7%, P < 0.001) or coronary artery bypass graft (9.0% vs 10.2%, P < 0.001) within 30 days at rural versus urban hospitals. Thrombolysis rates (3.1% vs 10.1%, P < 0.001) and endovascular therapy (1.8% vs 3.6%, P < 0.001) for ischemic stroke were lower at rural hospitals. After adjustment for demographics and clinical comorbidities, the 30-day mortality HR was significantly higher among patients presenting to rural hospitals for AMI (HR: 1.10, 95% CI: 1.08 to 1.12), HF (HR: 1.15; 95% CI: 1.13 to 1.16), and ischemic stroke (HR: 1.20; 95% CI: 1.18 to 1.22), with similar patterns at 90 days. These differences were most pronounced for the subset of critical access hospitals that serve remote, rural areas. CONCLUSIONS Clinical, public health, and policy efforts are needed to improve rural-urban gaps in care and outcomes for acute cardiovascular conditions. (C) 2022 by the American College of Cardiology Foundation.