Differential Treatment and Outcomes for Patients With Heart Attacks in Advantaged and Disadvantaged Communities

BACKGROUND: Racially and ethnically minoritized groups, people with lower income, and rural communities have worse access to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) than their counterparts, but PCI hospitals have preferentially opened in wealthier areas. Our study analyzed disparities in PCI access, treatment, and outcomes for patients with acute myocardial infarction based on the census‐derived Area Deprivation Index. METHODS AND RESULTS: We obtained patient‐level data on 629 419 patients with acute myocardial infarction in California between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2020. We linked patient data with population characteristics and geographic coordinates, and categorized communities into 5 groups based on the share of the population in low or high Area Deprivation Index neighborhoods to identify differences in PCI access, treatment, and outcomes based on community status. Risk‐adjusted models showed that patients in the most advantaged communities had 20% and 15% greater likelihoods of receiving same‐day PCI and PCI during the hospitalization, respectively, compared with patients in the most disadvantaged communities. Patients in the most advantaged communities also had 19% and 16% lower 30‐day and 1‐year mortality rates, respectively, compared with the most disadvantaged, and a 15% lower 30‐day readmission rate. No statistically significant differences in admission to a PCI hospital were observed between communities. CONCLUSIONS: Patients in disadvantaged communities had lower chances of receiving timely PCI and a greater risk of mortality and readmission compared with those in more advantaged communities. These findings suggest a need for targeted interventions to influence where cardiac services exist and who has access to them.