Nationwide claims data validated for quality assessments in acute myocardial infarction in the Netherlands

Introduction

Since health insurance is compulsory in the Netherlands, the centrally registered medical claims data might pose a unique opportunity to evaluate quality of (cardiac) care on a national level without additional collection of data. However, validation of these claims data has not yet been assessed.

Design

Retrospective cohort study.

Methods

National claims data (‘national registry’) were compared with data collected by patient records reviews in four representative hospitals (‘validation registry’). In both registries, we extracted the national diagnosis codes for ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction and non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction of 2012 and 2013. Additionally, data on medication use at one year after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was extracted from the Dutch pharmacy information systems and also validated by local patient records reviews. The data were compared at three stages: 1) validation of diagnosis and treatment coding; 2) validation of the hospital where follow-up has taken place; 3) validation of follow-up medical treatment after 365 days.

Results

In total, 3,980 patients (‘national registry’) and 4,014 patients (‘validation registry’) were compared at baseline. After one-year follow-up, 2,776 and 2,701 patients, respectively, were evaluated. Baseline characteristics, diagnosis and individual medication were comparable between the two registries. Of all 52,672 AMI patients in the Netherlands in 2012 and 2013, 81% used aspirin, 76% used P2Y12 inhibitors, 85% used statins, 82% used beta-blockers and 74% angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin II antagonists. Optimal medical treatment was achieved in 49% of the patients with AMI.

Conclusion

Nationwide routinely collected claims data in patients with an acute myocardial infarction are highly accurate. This offers an opportunity for use in quality assessments of cardiac care.

     

Rationale and design of the Measuring Athlete’s Risk of Cardiovascular events (MARC) study: The role of coronary CT in the cardiovascular evaluation of middle-aged sportsmen

BackgroundMore than 90 % of exercise-related cardiac arrests occur in men, predominantly those aged 45 years and older with coronary artery disease (CAD) as the main cause. The current sports medical evaluation (SME) of middle-aged recreational athletes consists of a medical history, physical examination, and resting and exercise electrocardiography. Coronary CT (CCT) provides a minimally invasive low radiation dose opportunity to image the coronary arteries. We present the study protocol of the Measuring Athlete’s Risk of Cardiovascular events (MARC) study. MARC aims to assess the additional value of CCT to a routine SME in asymptomatic sportsmen ≥45 years without known CAD.DesignMARC is a prospective study of 300 asymptomatic sportsmen ≥45 years who will undergo CCT if the SME does not reveal any cardiac abnormalities. The prevalence and determinants of CAD (coronary artery calcium score ≥100 Agatston Units (AU) or ≥50 % luminal stenosis) will be reported. The number needed to screen to prevent the occurrence of one cardiovascular event in the next 5 years, conditional to adequate treatment, will be estimated.DiscussionWe aim to determine the prevalence and severity of CAD and the additional value of CCT in asymptomatic middle-aged (≥45 years) sportsmen whose routine SME revealed no cardiac abnormalities.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s12471-014-0630-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.