[Myocardial infarct and occupational reintegration in insured patients of a regional sickness fund]

For a region in the Federal Republic of Germany, some important indicators for procedures and outcomes of the care of myocardial infarction patients have been demonstrated. The study was restricted to patients under 65 years of age and was based on routine data from the health insurance fund. Length of stay in the hospital was more than five weeks. Half of the patients who underwent coronary angiography coronary bypass surgery had to wait longer than three or five months, respectively, for the procedure. Half of the patients who were treated in a rehabilitation clinic had to wait more than two weeks elapsed after discharge from the acute care hospital. Utilization of this type of service was about 75% for patients who were employed before the infarction compared to only about 15% for patients who had already been retired from work. Only about half of the men under 60 years returned to work after their infarction. Half of the patients were still disabled after nine months after onset of disease. The study was part of a project for the development of care for patients with myocardial infarction in that region. It turned out that routine data are effective for the description of the situation. Studies of this type can be repeated in other regions with comparable little effort.