Baseline clinical characteristics of the trial and registry participants
| Characteristics | Statistic | All N=133 | Trial N=60 | Registry N=73 | P value |
| Clinical | |||||
| Age, years | Mean±SD | 71±10 | 71±9 | 72±10 | 0.46 |
| Female sex | N (%) | 37 (28) | 17 (28) | 20 (27) | 1.00 |
| Obese (body mass index >30 kg/m2) | N (%) | 37 (28) | 22 (37) | 15 (21) | 0.05 |
| Presentation type* | |||||
| Non-ST segment elevation MI | N (%) | 90 (68) | 41 (68) | 49 (67) | 1.00 |
| Unstable angina | N (%) | 43 (32) | 19 (32) | 24 (33) | 1.00 |
| Medical history | |||||
| Diabetes mellitus† | N (%) | 50 (38) | 21 (35) | 29 (40) | 0.60 |
| Previous MI | N (%) | 91 (68) | 41 (68) | 50 (68) | 1.00 |
| Cardiac arrhythmia | N (%) | 47 (36) | 19 (32) | 28 (39) | 0.37 |
| Treated hypertension | N (%) | 88 (66) | 42 (70) | 46 (63) | 0.46 |
| Renal impairment | N (%) | 38 (29) | 13 (22) | 25 (34) | 0.13 |
| Peripheral vascular disease | N (%) | 32 (24) | 16 (27) | 16 (22) | 0.55 |
| Cerebrovascular disease | N (%) | 30 (23) | 13 (22) | 17 (23) | 0.84 |
| Congestive HF | N (%) | 44 (33) | 14 (23) | 30 (41) | 0.04 |
| Anaemia | N (%) | 20 (15) | 5 (8) | 15 (21) | 0.05 |
| Valve disease | N (%) | 43 (32) | 12 (20) | 31 (42) | 0.01 |
| Pacemaker | N (%) | 11 (8) | 5 (8) | 6 (8) | 1.00 |
| History of smoking | |||||
| Current | N (%) | 27 (20) | 12 (20) | 15 (21) | 0.35 |
| Former (>3 months) | N (%) | 80 (60) | 33 (55) | 47 (64) | |
| Never | N (%) | 26 (20) | 15 (25) | 11 (15) | |
| Serum creatinine, μmol/L | Median (IQR) | 86 (71–114) | 84 (68–101) | 89 (73–131) | 0.11 |
| Haemoglobin, g/L | Mean±SD | 131±18 | 135±16 | 127±18 | 0.01 |
| Charlson Comorbidity Index | Median (IQR) | 5 (3–7) | 4 (3–6) | 5 (3–7) | 0.28 |
| Health-related quality of life, EuroQol 5 Dimensions 5 Levels score | Median (IQR) | 0.674 (0.447–0.866) | 0.748 (0.514–0.899) | 0.658 (0.437–0.817) | 0.11 |
| ECG abnormalities at initial presentation | |||||
| ST-segment depression | N (%) | 67 (50) | 28 (47) | 39 (53) | 0.49 |
| ST-segment elevation | N (%) | 27 (20) | 11 (18) | 16 (22) | 0.67 |
| T-wave inversion | N (%) | 89 (67) | 38 (63) | 51 (70) | 0.46 |
| Q-waves | N (%) | 42 (32) | 15 (25) | 27 (37) | 0.19 |
| Left bundle branch block | N (%) | 11 (8) | 5 (8) | 6 (8) | 1.00 |
| AF or flutter | N (%) | 23 (17) | 9 (15) | 14 (19) | 0.65 |
| New ischaemic ECG changes‡ | N (%) | 66 (50) | 30 (50) | 36 (50) | 1.00 |
| Canadian Cardiovascular Society angina class§ | |||||
| 1 | N (%) | 4 (3) | 2 (3) | 2 (3) | 0.83 |
| 2 | N (%) | 11 (8) | 6 (10) | 5 (7) | |
| 3 | N (%) | 26 (20) | 10 (17) | 16 (22) | |
| 4 | N (%) | 90 (69) | 41 (69) | 49 (68) | |
| New York Heart Association functional class | |||||
| I | N (%) | 47 (35) | 30 (50) | 17 (23) | 0.01 |
| II | N (%) | 47 (35) | 18 (30) | 29 (40) | |
| III | N (%) | 28 (21) | 8 (13) | 20 (27) | |
| IV | N (%) | 11 (8) | 4 (7) | 7 (10) | |
| Coronary artery bypass grafts | |||||
| Left internal mammary artery | N (%) | 109 (82) | 50 (83) | 59 (81) | 0.82 |
| No/unknown | N (%) | 24 (18) | 10 (17) | 14 (19) | |
| Saphenous vein graft | |||||
| 0 | N (%) | 10 (8) | 3 (5) | 7 (10) | 0.74 |
| 1 | N (%) | 37 (29) | 17 (29) | 20 (29) | |
| 2 | N (%) | 54 (43) | 25 (43) | 29 (43) | |
| ≥3 | N (%) | 25 (20) | 13 (22) | 12 (18) | |
| Frailty index | |||||
| Fit or well (1,2,3) | N (%) | 60 (45) | 35 (58) | 25 (34) | 0.03 |
| Vulnerable (4) or mildly frail (5) | N (%) | 42 (32) | 14 (23) | 28 (38) | |
| Moderately frail (6) | N (%) | 29 (22) | 10 (17) | 19 (26) | |
| Severely frail (7) | N (%) | 2 (2) | 1 (2) | 1 (1) | |
| Medication prior to hospital admission | |||||
| Aspirin | N (%) | 113 (85) | 52 (87) | 61 (84) | 0.81 |
| Statin | N (%) | 113 (85) | 55 (92) | 58 (79) | 0.06 |
| Beta-blocker | N (%) | 94 (71) | 42 (70) | 52 (71) | 1.00 |
| Calcium channel blocker | N (%) | 133 (100) | 60 (100) | 73 (100) | 1.00 |
| Isosorbide mononitrate | N (%) | 50 (38) | 20 (33) | 30 (41) | 0.38 |
| Nicorandil | N (%) | 47 (35) | 22 (37) | 25 (34) | 0.86 |
| ACE inhibitor | N (%) | 101 (76) | 50 (83) | 51 (70) | 0.10 |
| Insulin | N (%) | 20 (15) | 10 (17) | 10 (14) | 0.64 |
| Oral antidiabetic therapy | N (%) | 28 (21) | 10 (17) | 18 (25) | 0.29 |
| Antidepressant therapy | N (%) | 24 (18) | 13 (22) | 11 (15) | 0.37 |
| Diuretic | N (%) | 52 (39) | 18 (30) | 34 (47) | 0.07 |
Note that where there are missing values, the percentages are calculated out of the number of patients with data. Cardiac arrhythmia (2 missing from registry). New ischaemic ECG changes (1 missing from registry). Canadian Cardiovascular Society angina class (1 missing from trial, 1 missing from registry). Saphenous vein graft (2 missing from trial, 5 missing from registry).
Mean ± SD or median (IQR) for normal and non-normally distributed data, respectively.
*During the index hospitalisation, all patients in the randomised trial group had a type 1 MI, while seven patients in the registry group did not have a type 1 MI but had a type 2 MI (2 AF, 1 AF+HF, 1 severe aortic stenosis+HF, 1 anaemia, 1 AF+acute kidney injury, 1 HF+respiratory tract infection).
†Diabetes mellitus was defined as a history of diet-controlled or treated diabetes.
‡Any previous episode with new ischaemic ECG changes.
§The highest Canadian Cardiovascular Society value of any previous episode for each patient.
ACE, Angiotensin-converting enyzme; AF, atrial fibrillation; HF, heart failure; MI, myocardial infarction.