Secondary prevention in coronary heart disease: goal achievement and drug prescribing

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Published on: May 14, 2013

Trude Giverhaug1, Christine Bruland, Thor Trovik

  • 1Institute of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tromsø, N-9037, Tromsø, Norway. trudeg@farmasi.uit.no

Pharmacy World & Science : PWS
|December 13, 2005
PubMed

Insights

Treatment goal achievement for coronary heart disease (CHD) patients after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was suboptimal. Improved drug prescribing and goal attainment are likely possible for CHD patients undergoing PCI.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Clinical Practice
  • Interventional Cardiology

Background:

  • Coronary heart disease (CHD) management requires adherence to treatment guidelines.
  • Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is a common procedure for CHD patients.
  • Assessing treatment goal achievement and drug prescribing is crucial for optimizing patient outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate treatment goal achievement in CHD patients post-PCI.
  • To analyze drug prescribing patterns in CHD patients undergoing PCI.
  • To identify potential areas for improvement in clinical practice.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective study of 200 patients undergoing planned or acute PCI.
  • Analysis of patient medical records and clinical chemistry data.
  • Comparison of goal achievement and drug prescription against established therapeutic guidelines.

Main Results:

  • Only 36% of patients achieved blood pressure goals (<140/90 mmHg) 3 months post-PCI.
  • Cholesterol goals (<5 mmol/l) were met by 29% of patients at the time of PCI.
  • Patients were prescribed an average of 1.4 antihypertensive drugs post-PCI; 78% received statins, 92% low-dose aspirin, and 23% diuretics.

Conclusions:

  • Suboptimal achievement of treatment goals was observed in CHD patients post-PCI.
  • Opportunities exist to enhance drug prescribing and improve goal attainment in this patient population.
  • Clinical practice improvements are recommended for CHD patients undergoing PCI.
Abstract

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