Acute Myocardial Infarction in Medicare Beneficiaries During and After the COVID-19 Pandemic

Were there changes in the incidence or outcomes of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) among Medicare beneficiaries during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and did these changes differ by rurality?In this cohort study of 1 152 851 AMI episodes among all fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries, the incidence of AMI declined during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. In-hospital mortality increased during the pandemic and decreased back to baseline after the pandemic; urban beneficiaries experienced a greater reduction in mortality after the pandemic.These findings suggest that further work is needed to better understand the changing cardiovascular risk profiles among Medicare beneficiaries and to seek innovative solutions to the disparate outcomes.

Corresponding Author: Karen E. Joynt Maddox, MD, MPH, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S Euclid Ave, St Louis, MO 63110 (kjoyntmaddox@wustl.edu).

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