Heart Attack Survivorship Tied to Long-Term Health Consequences

MONDAY, March 4, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Heart attacks are associated with an increased risk for developing other serious health conditions, such as peripheral arterial disease, renal failure, diabetes, and depression, according to a study published online Feb. 15 in PLOS Medicine.

Marlous Hall, Ph.D., from University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, and colleagues assessed 11 nonfatal health outcomes (subsequent myocardial infarction [MI] and first hospitalization for heart failure, atrial fibrillation, cerebrovascular disease, peripheral arterial disease, severe bleeding, renal failure, diabetes mellitus, dementia, depression, and cancer) and all-cause mortality following MI. The analysis included more than 34 million adults with roughly 146 million hospitalizations (Jan. 1, 2008, to Jan. 31, 2017), including 433,361 with MI.

The researchers found that following MI, all-cause mortality was the most frequent event (adjusted cumulative incidence at nine years, 37.8 percent), followed by heart failure (29.6 percent), renal failure (27.2 percent), atrial fibrillation (22.3 percent), severe bleeding (19.0 percent), diabetes (17.0 percent), cancer (13.5 percent), cerebrovascular disease (12.5 percent), depression (8.9 percent), dementia (7.8 percent), subsequent MI (7.1 percent), and peripheral arterial disease (6.5 percent). In an analysis of approximately 2.0 million risk-set matched individuals, first hospitalization of all nonfatal health outcomes was increased after MI except for dementia (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.01; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.99 to 1.02) and cancer (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.56; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.56 to 0.57). Individuals from more socioeconomically deprived backgrounds appeared to have a greater risk for further ill health.

"Our study highlights the need for individual care plans to be revised to take into account the higher demand for care caused by survivorship," Hall said in a statement.

Several authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

Abstract/Full Text