Incidence, Risk Factors, and Outcomes Associated With In-Hospital Acute Myocardial Infarction

IMPORTANCE: Studies of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) occurring outside the hospital have informed approaches to addressing risk, treatment, and patient outcomes. Similar insights for in-hospital AMI are lacking. OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence, risk factors, and outcomes associated with in-hospital AMI. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Cohort, nested case-control, and matched cohort study of patients hospitalized in US Veterans Health Administration facilities between July 2007 and September 2009. The incidence of in-hospital AMI was determined from a complete cohort of in-hospital AMI relative to the total number of inpatient admissions. From the in-hospital AMI cohort, detailed medical record review was performed on 687 cases and 687 individually matched controls. Risk factors and outcomes associated with in-hospital AMI were determined from matched comparison of in-hospital AMI cases to hospitalized controls. EXPOSURES: Candidate risk factors for in-hospital AMI included characteristics at the time of admission and in-hospital variables prior to the index date. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: In the determination of the incidence and risk factors associated with in-hospital AMI, the outcome of interest was in-hospital AMI. All-cause mortality was the main outcome of interest following in-hospital AMI. RESULTS: A total of 5556 patients with in-hospital AMI (mean [SD] age, 73 [10] years; 5456 [98.2%] male) were identified among 1.3 million admissions, with an incidence of 4.27 in-hospital AMI events per 1000 admissions. Independent risk factors associated with in-hospital AMI included intensive care unit setting, history of coronary artery disease, heart rate greater than 100 beats/min, hemoglobin level less than 8 g/dL, and white blood cell count 14 000/μL or greater. Compared with the matched control group, mortality was significantly higher for patients with in-hospital AMI (in-hospital mortality, 26.4% vs 4.2%; 30-day mortality, 33.0% vs 10.0%; 1-year mortality, 59.2% vs 34.4%). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In-hospital AMI was common and associated with common cardiovascular risk factors and markers of acute illness. Patient outcomes following in-hospital AMI were poor, with 1-year mortality approaching 60%. Further study of in-hospital AMI may yield opportunities to reduce in-hospital AMI risk and improve patient outcomes.