etes, 31.2 percent had a history of congestive heart failure, and 36.2 percent had a total cholesterol level greater than 200 mg/dL.
The percentages of patients with myocardial infarction taking beta-blockers at hospital admission increased from 33.7 percent to 44.4 percent over the six years of the study. Although evidence-based guidelines strongly recommend beta-blockers for post-MI patients with no contraindications, the study found that even by 1995, more than half of all patients who were first seen with recurrent MI were not receiving them.
Soumerai et al (1997) documented the use of beta-blockers in 3,737 elderly patients who suffered a myocardial infarction from 1986 to 1990 and found that only 21 percent of eligible patients had been prescribed this medication. Failure to prescribe these medications in the p
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