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Background: There are limited data on the association of material deprivation with clinical care and outcomes after atrial fibrillation (AF) diagnosis in jurisdictions with universal health care., Methods: This was a population-based cohort study of individuals ≥66 years of age with first diagnosis of AF between April 1, 2007, and March 31, 2019, in the Canadian province of Ontario, which provides public funding and prohibits private payment for medically necessary physician and hospital services. Prescription medications are subsidized for residents >65 years of age. The primary exposure was neighborhood material deprivation, a metric derived from Canadian census data to estimate inability to attain basic material needs. Neighborhoods were categorized by quintile from Q1 (least deprived) to Q5 (most deprived). Cause-specific hazards regression was used to study the association of material deprivation quintile with time to AF-related adverse events (death or hospitalization for stroke, heart failure, or bleeding), clinical services (physician visits, cardiac diagnostics), and interventions (anticoagulation, cardioversion, ablation) while adjusting for individual characteristics and regional cardiologist supply., Results: Among 347 632 individuals with AF (median age 79 years, 48.9% female), individuals in the most deprived neighborhoods (Q5) had higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease, risk factors, and noncardiovascular comorbidity relative to residents of the least deprived neighborhoods (Q1). After adjustment, Q5 residents had higher hazards of death (hazard ratio [HR], 1.16 [95% CI, 1.13-1.20]) and hospitalization for stroke (HR, 1.16 [95% CI, 1.07-1.27]), heart failure (HR, 1.14 [95% CI, 1.11-1.18]), or bleeding (HR, 1.16 [95% CI, 1.07-1.25]) relative to Q1. There were small differences across quintiles in primary care physician visits (HR, Q5 versus Q1, 0.91 [95% CI, 0.89-0.92]), echocardiography (HR, Q5 versus Q1, 0.97 [95% CI, 0.96-0.99]), and dispensation of anticoagulation (HR, Q5 versus Q1, 0.97 [95% CI, 0.95-0.98]). There were more prominent disparities for Q5 versus Q1 in cardiologist visits (HR, 0.84 [95% CI, 0.82-0.86]), cardioversion (HR, 0.80 [95% CI, 0.76-0.84]), and ablation (HR, 0.45 [95% CI, 0.30-0.67])., Conclusions: Despite universal health care and prescription medication coverage, residents of more deprived neighborhoods were less likely to visit cardiologists or receive rhythm control interventions after AF diagnosis, even though they exhibited higher cardiovascular disease burden and higher risk of adverse outcomes.

Background: Immigrants from ethnic minority groups represent an increasing proportion of the population in many high-income countries but little is known about the causes and amount of variation between various immigrant groups in the incidence of major cardiovascular events., Methods and Results: We conducted the Cardiovascular Health in Ambulatory Care Research Team (CANHEART) Immigrant study, a big data initiative, linking information from Citizenship and Immigration Canada's Permanent Resident database to nine population-based health databases. A cohort of 824 662 first-generation immigrants aged 30 to 74 as of January 2002 from eight major ethnic groups and 201 countries of birth who immigrated to Ontario, Canada between 1985 and 2000 were compared to a reference group of 5.2 million long-term residents. The overall 10-year age-standardized incidence of major cardiovascular events was 30% lower among immigrants compared with long-term residents. East Asian immigrants (predominantly ethnic Chinese) had the lowest incidence overall (2.4 in males, 1.1 in females per 1000 person-years) but this increased with greater duration of stay in Canada. South Asian immigrants, including those born in Guyana had the highest event rates (8.9 in males, 3.6 in females per 1000 person-years), along with immigrants born in Iraq and Afghanistan. Adjustment for traditional risk factors reduced but did not eliminate differences in cardiovascular risk between various ethnic groups and long-term residents., Conclusions: Striking differences in the incidence of cardiovascular events exist among immigrants to Canada from different ethnic backgrounds. Traditional risk factors explain part but not all of these differences.

Background: The type of outpatient physician care after an emergency department visit for heart failure may affect patients' outcomes., Methods and Results: Using the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System, we examined the care and outcomes of heart failure patients who visited and were discharged from the emergency department in Ontario, Canada (April 2004 to March 2007). Early collaborative care by a cardiologist and primary care (PC) physician within 30 days after discharge was compared with PC alone. Care for 10 599 patients (age, 74.9±11.9 years; 50.2% male) was provided by PC alone (n=6596), cardiologist alone (n=535), or concurrently by both cardiologist and PC (n=1478); 1990 did not visit a physician. Collaborative care patients were more likely to undergo assessment of left ventricular function (57.4% versus 28.7%), noninvasive stress testing (20.1% versus 7.8%), and cardiac catheterization (11.6% versus 2.7%) compared with PC. Drug prescriptions (patients ≥65 years of age) demonstrated higher use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (58.8% versus 54.6%), angiotensin receptor blockers (22.7% versus 18.1%), β-adrenoceptor antagonists (63.4% versus 48.0%), loop diuretics (84.2% versus 79.6%), metolazone (4.8% versus 3.4%), and spironolactone (19.8% versus 12.7%) within 100 days after emergency department discharge for collaborative care compared with PC. In a propensity-matched model, mortality was lower with PC compared with no physician visit (hazard ratio, 0.75; 95% confidence interval, 0.64 to 0.87; P<0.001). Collaborative care reduced mortality compared with PC (hazard ratio, 0.79; 95% confidence interval, 0.63 to 1.00; P=0.045). Sole cardiology care conferred a trend to increased mortality (hazard ratio, 1.41 versus collaborative care; 95% confidence interval, 0.98 to 2.03; P=0.067)., Conclusions: Early collaborative heart failure care was associated with increased use of drug therapies and cardiovascular diagnostic tests and better outcomes compared with PC alone.

Background: Healthcare reform initiatives in the United States have rekindled debate about the role of government regulation in the healthcare system. Although New York State (NYS) historically has had twice as many coronary revascularizations performed as Ontario, the relative evolution of coronary revascularization patterns in both jurisdictions over time is unknown., Methods and Results: We conducted an observational study comparing the temporal trends of cardiac invasive procedures use in NYS and Ontario using population-based data from 1997 to 2006 stratified by procedure indication. For nonacute myocardial infarction patients, the age- and sex-adjusted rate of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was 2.3 times (95% confidence interval, 2.2 to 2.5) greater in NYS than in Ontario in 2004 to 2006. In contrast, population-based rates of coronary artery bypass grafting among nonacute myocardial infarction patients were not significantly different. For acute myocardial infarction patients, differences in coronary revascularization rates between NYS and Ontario narrowed substantially over time. In 2004 to 2006, the relative ratio was 1.3 times higher for PCI (95% confidence interval, 1.2 to 1.5) and 1.4 times higher (95% confidence interval, 1.1 to 1.8) for coronary artery bypass grafting in NYS relative to Ontario. However, a larger relative gap (relative ratio, 2.0; 95% confidence interval, 1.7 to 2.3) was observed among acute myocardial infarction patients undergoing emergency PCIs in NYS compared with Ontario., Conclusions: The market-oriented financing approach in NYS is associated with markedly higher rates of PCI procedures for both discretionary indications (eg, PCI in nonacute myocardial infarction patients) and emergent indications (eg, primary PCI) compared with the government-funded single-payer system in Ontario.