Table 1.
Comparison of baseline characteristics of patients who did and did not experience a further cardiac event (n = 574)
| No cardiac event | Cardiac event | Significance | |
| Number of subjects | 456 | 118 | |
| Age (years) | 59.2 (11.2) | 62.4 (10.4) | t = 2.87, p = 0.004 |
| Sex | |||
| Male | 336 (73.7%) | 72 (61.0%) | P = 0.009 |
| Female | 120 (26.3%) | 46 (39.9%) | |
| Ethnicity | |||
| White | 433 (95.0%) | 112 (94.9%) | χ2 = 8.8 |
| Asian | 18 (3.9%) | 1 (0.8%) | df = 3 |
| Afro-Caribbean | 3 (0.7%) | 4 (3.4%) | p = 0.033 |
| Other | 2 (0.4%) | 1 (0.8%) | |
| Marital status | |||
| Single | 44 (9.6%) | 11 (9.3%) | |
| Married/cohabiting | 302 (66.2%) | 66 (55.9%) | χ2 = 5.6 |
| Widowed | 61 (13.4%) | 23 (19.5%) | df = 3 |
| Divorced/separated | 49 (10.7%) | 18 (15.3%) | p = 0.13 |
| Close confidant | 380 (86.2%) | 91 (79.1%) | p = 0.080 |
| Educated to GCSE or more | 123 (27.0%) | 26 (22.0%) | p = 0.29 |
| Job class* | |||
| Class 1–21 | 192 (43.6%) | 48 (41.7%) | p = 0.75 |
| Class 22–35 | 248 (56.4%) | 67 (58.3%) | |
| Separation from mother in childhood | 72 (16.3%) | 22 (19.8%) | p = 0.40. |
| Separation from father in childhood | 113 (25.4%) | 25 (22.5%) | p = 0.62 |
| Psychiatric history | 162 (35.5%) | 40 (34.2%) | p = 0.83 |
| History of angina | 89 (19.5%) | 46 (39.0%) | p<0.0005 |
| Severity of angina (Rose) n = 128 | |||
| Moderate | 59 (67.8%) | 26 (63.4%) | p = 0.69 |
| Severe | 29 (32.2%) | 14 (36.6%) | |
| Smoking history | |||
| Never smoked | 79 (17.4%) | 23 (19.7) | χ2 = 3.68 |
| Current smoker | 234 (51.7%) | 49 (41.9%) | df = 2 |
| Past smoker | 140 (30.9%) | 45 (38.5%) | p = 0.16 |
| Illegal drug use | 18 (4.0%) | 5 (4.3%) | p = 0.80 |
| Family history of MI | 264 (59.6%) | 62 (56.4%) | p = 0.59 |
| Number of previous MIs | |||
| 0 | 389 (85.3%) | 90 (76.3%) | Linear trend |
| 1 | 56 (12.3%) | 17 (14.4%) | χ2 = 14.8 |
| 2 | 11 (2.4%) | 6 (5.1%) | df = 1 |
| 3 | 0 (0%) | 3 (2.5%) | p<0.0005 |
| 4 | 0 (0%) | 2 (1.6%) | |
| Previous CABG | 11 (5.3%) | 9 (13.8%) | p = 0.030 |
| Depressed (HADS total ⩾ 17) | 107 (23.5%) | 28 (23.7%) | p = 1.0 |
| Blood pressure on admission (mm Hg) | |||
| Diastolic | 69.5 (12.6) | 71.3 (13.4) | t = 1.39, p = 0.17 |
| Systolic | 121.2 (16.7) | 122.5 (21.3) | t = 0.61, p = 0.54 |
| Severity of index MI (Killip class) | |||
| 1 | 332 (73.0%) | 61 (52.1%) | χ2 = 29.7 |
| 2 | 112 (24.6%) | 42 (35.9%) | df = 2 |
| 3 | 11 (2.4%) | 14 (12.0%) | p<0.0005 |
| Creatine kinase† (iu/l) | |||
| First sample | 586.6 (875.3) | 609.4 (952.4) | p = 0.56 |
| Second sample | 1203.6 (1184.0) | 1381.7 (1249.2) | p = 0.10 |
| Third sample | 918.9 (1129.5) | 1050.0 (1312.4) | p = 0.08 |
| Thrombolysis | 327 (71.7%) | 79 (66.9%) | p = 0.31 |
| Severe cardiac complications during index admission | 24 (8.9%) | 18 (21.2%) | p = 0.004 |
| CABG during index admission | 11 (2.4%) | 1 (0.9%) | FET, p = 0.48 |
| Discharge medication | |||
| Aspirin | 434 (95.8%) | 96 (88.9%) | p = 0.009 |
| β Blockers | 285 (62.9%) | 48 (44.4%) | p = 0.001 |
| Calcium channel blockers | 81 (17.9%) | 31 (28.7%) | p = 0.016 |
| ACE inhibitors | 191 (42.3%) | 59 (54.6%) | p = 0.024 |
| Nitrates | 272 (60.2%) | 77 (71.3%) | p = 0.036 |
| Statins | 337 (74.6%) | 73 (67.6%) | p = 0.15 |
| Diuretics | 72 (16.0%) | 35 (32.4%) | p<0.0005 |
*Job classes 1–21 reflect higher socioeconomic status and 22–35 reflect lower status; †compared by Mann-Whitney U test in view of degree of non-normality of distribution of variables. Unequal variance version of the t test was used.
ACE, angiotensin converting enzyme; CABG, coronary artery bypass graft; FET, Fisher’s exact test; GCSE, General Certificate of Secondary Education (equivalent to 12 years of education); HADS, hospital anxiety and depression scale; MI, myocardial infarction.