Long-term outcomes after acute myocardial infarction in countries with different socioeconomic environments: an international prospective cohort study.

Background: Hospital-based data on the impact of socioeconomic environment on long-term survival after myocardial infarction (MI) are lacking. We compared outcome and quality of secondary prevention in patients after MI living in three different socioeconomic environments including patients from three tertiary-care teaching hospitals with similar service population size in Switzerland, Poland and Ukraine.

Methods: This is a prospective cohort study of patients with a first MI in three different tertiary-care teaching hospitals in Bern (Switzerland), Gdansk (Poland) and Lutsk (Ukraine) during the acute phase in the year 2010 and follow-up of these patients with a questionnaire and, if necessary, telephone interviews 3.