SNAPSHOT ACS Cohort Follow-Up – What Happens to Australian Patients in the 3 Years after Hospital Discharge: A National Data Linkage Study

Aim: High quality person-centred data linkage in all-comers admitted for suspected acute coronary syndrome (ACS) provides robust population estimates of mortality and morbidity. This study aimed to determine the proportion of patients hospitalised, deaths and medication dispensed at 6, 12, 24 and 36 months post ACS.

Methods: The original Australian SNAPSHOT ACS cohort included 3381patients admitted to 252 hospitals from 14–27 May 2012. For the present study, the 1773 Australian patients who were discharged alive with a primary diagnosis of ACS were followed-up via data linkage of cross-jurisdictional morbidity, National Death Index and Pharmaceutical Benefit Schedule at time points from the date of hospital separation.

Results: All ACS patients who were discharged alive with data successfully linked (n = 1663) had a mean age of 68 ± 13 years, 1088 (65%) were male. In total, during the 36 months after discharge 302 (18%) patients died and 536 (39%) had at least one hospitalisation for cardiovascular disease (CVD) as detailed in Table 1. Among survivors at 36 months, medications dispensed included antiplatelets 75%, statins 85%, beta-blockers 60%, ACEI/ARBs 64%. In total, ≥3 evidenced-based medications were dispensed for 70% of patients.