Table 2.

Benefits of thrombolysis after acute myocardial infarction by age for men in Australia on basis of deaths from days 0-35

	Age (years)
	<55	55-64	65-74
Absolute risk reduction9	0.011	0.018	0.027
Proportion of population with acute myocardial infarction eligible for treatment*	0.54	0.49	0.40
Event rate of acute myocardial infarction per 100 000†	137	760	1523
Number needed to treat	91	56	37
Disease impact number	169	113	93
Population impact number	123 000	14 900	6100

^*Assumes 77%, 70%, and 66% of patients in each ascending age group are admitted to hospital (due to deaths occurring before reaching hospital: WHO MONICA project monitoring trends and determinants in cardiovascular disease study, unpublished) and proportions given thrombolysis in hospital are 0.7, 0.7, and 0.6 in each ascending age group (New South Wales acute cardiac care study, unpublished). 

^†Based on mortality data from Australian Institute of Health and Welfare¹⁰ and morbidity data from Australian Institute of Health and Welfare national morbidity database.