Impact of Socioeconomic Status on Clinical Outcomes in Patients With ST-Segment–Elevation Myocardial Infarction

Background: Low socioeconomic status (SES) has been previously shown to be associated with worse cardiovascular outcomes. However, unlike in Australia, many of these studies have been performed in countries without universal healthcare where SES may be expected to have a greater impact on care and outcomes. We sought to determine whether there is an association between SES and baseline characteristics, clinical outcomes and use of secondary prevention therapy in patients with ST-segment–elevation myocardial infarction undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods and Results: We prospectively collected data on 5665 consecutive ST-segment–elevation myocardial infarction PCI patients between 2005 and 2015 from 6 government-funded hospitals participating in a multicenter registry. Patients were categorized into SES quintiles using the Index of Relative Socioeconomic Disadvantage system, a score allocated to each residential postcode based on factors like income, educational level, and employme...