Low-Income Heart-Attack Survivors at Risk

U.S. heart-attack survivors who don’t have funds for follow-up care have more chest pain and a higher risk of being re-hospitalized.

Researchers at Yale University School of Medicine tracked almost 2,500 patents for the year after their heart attacks.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found one in five patients reported a lack of funds kept them from seeking healthcare services, while one in eight said a lack of money kept them from filling prescriptions.

Financial barriers to care was a strong predictor of adverse outcomes, senior author Dr. Harlan M. Krumholz said in a statement.

Patients with financial barriers had a higher prevalence of (chest pain), worse quality of life and poorer overall physical and mental function, both at the time of their heart attack and one year later.