Table 1. Characteristics of the study population.
| NSTEMI | Heart failure | |
|---|---|---|
| N(%) | N(%) | |
| No. of patients | 5008(100.0) | 13577(100.0) |
| Follow-up with a physician | ||
| 7-day | 3841(76.7) | 10164(74.9) |
| 14-day | 4664(93.1) | 12197(89.8) |
| Follow-up with the same physician | ||
| 7-day | 2807(56.1) | 7178(52.9) |
| 14-day | 3614(72.2) | 8996(66.3) |
| Follow-up with a cardiologist | ||
| 7-day | 2242(44.8) | 5103(37.6) |
| 14-day | 2862(57.1) | 6455(47.5) |
| Patient Characteristics | ||
| Male sex | 3367(67.2) | 6824(50.3) |
| Age, y | ||
| 18–49 | 520(10.4) | 1026(7.6) |
| 50–64 | 1456(29.1) | 2345(17.3) |
| 65–79 | 1920(38.3) | 5058(37.3) |
| 80+ | 1112(22.2) | 5148(37.9) |
| Charlson score | ||
| 0–1 | 2181(43.6) | 3838(28.3) |
| 2–3 | 1518(30.3) | 4988(36.7) |
| 4+ | 1309(26.1) | 4751(35.0) |
| Medical history | ||
| Hypertension | 3829(76.5) | 10617(78.2) |
| No | 1179(23.5) | 2960(21.8) |
| Diabetes mellitus | 2439(48.7) | 6194(45.6) |
| No | 2569(51.3) | 7383(54.4) |
| Myocardial infarction | 650(13.0) | 1304(9.6) |
| No | 4358(87.0) | 12273(90.4) |
| Heart Failure | 827(16.5) | 5930(43.7) |
| No | 4181(83.5) | 7647(56.3) |
| Atrial fibrillation or flutter | 511(10.2) | 3889(28.6) |
| No | 4497(89.8) | 9688(71.4) |
| Peripheral vascular disease | 182(3.6) | 564(4.2) |
| No | 4826(96.4) | 13013(95.8) |
| Renal disease | 923(18.4) | 2697(19.9) |
| No | 4085(81.6) | 10880(80.1) |
| In-hospital treatment | ||
| PCI | 2893(57.8) | 458(3.4) |
| Intensive care unit use | 4311(86.1) | 2969(21.9) |
| Surgery use | 471(9.4) | 582(4.3) |
| Length of stay, d | ||
| <5 | 2039(40.7) | 5671(41.8) |
| 6–9 | 1512(30.2) | 4366(32.2) |
| 10+ | 1457(29.1) | 3540(26.1) |
| Baseline medications | ||
| Aspirin | 4710(94.0) | 6573(48.4) |
| β-Blocker | 3183(63.6) | 5268(38.8) |
| Statin | 2961(59.1) | 2283(16.8) |
| ACEI/ARB | 3610(72.1) | 7995(58.9) |
| Medications within 7 days of discharge | ||
| Aspirin | 2590(51.7) | 3571(26.3) |
| β-Blocker | 1832(36.6) | 3233(23.8) |
| Statin | 1670(33.3) | 1292(9.5) |
| ACEI/ARB | 1792(35.8) | 4305(31.7) |
| Medications within 14 days of discharge | ||
| Aspirin | 3425(68.4) | 4637(34.2) |
| β-Blocker | 2450(48.9) | 4380(32.3) |
| Statin | 2272(45.4) | 1752(12.9) |
| ACEI/ARB | 2403(48.0) | 5660(41.7) |
| Low income | 98(2.0) | 305(2.2) |
| Rural residence | 1205(24.1) | 3687(27.2) |
| Number of hospitalizations during the past year | ||
| 0 | 3312(66.1) | 6935(51.1) |
| 1 | 942(18.8) | 3344(24.6) |
| 2+ | 754(15.1) | 3298(24.3) |
| Number of outpatient visits during the past year | ||
| Low | 1696(33.9) | 4610(34.0) |
| Medium | 1648(32.9) | 4447(32.8) |
| High | 1664(33.2) | 4520(33.3) |
| Hospital Characteristics | ||
| Hospital volume | ||
| Low | 1685(33.6) | 4675(34.4) |
| Medium | 1693(33.8) | 4575(33.7) |
| High | 1630(32.5) | 4327(31.9) |
| Hospital level | ||
| Academic medical center | 2797(55.9) | 4571(33.7) |
| Regional | 2077(41.5) | 6984(51.4) |
| District | 134(2.7) | 2022(14.9) |
| Teaching | 4939(98.6) | 12003(88.4) |
| Location | ||
| Taipei | 1743(34.8) | 4608(33.9) |
| Northern | 581(11.6) | 1841(13.6) |
| Central | 799(16.0) | 2534(18.7) |
| Southern | 858(17.1) | 2054(15.1) |
| Kao-Ping | 855(17.1) | 2073(15.3) |
| Eastern | 172(3.4) | 467(3.4) |
| Patient outcomes | ||
| 30-day readmission | ||
| All-cause | 998(19.9) | 3169(23.3) |
| Specific-cause | ||
| Cardiovascular | 935(18.7) | 2842(20.9) |
| Same diagnosis | 182(3.6) | 1983(14.6) |
NSTEMI indicates non-ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction; and PCI, percutaneous coronary intervention.