Levels and trends in cardiovascular risk factors and drug treatment in 4837 elderly Dutch myocardial infarction patients between 2002 and 2006

textabstractBackground It is important to gain insight into opportunities for secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Our aim was to investigate levels and trends in cardiovascular risk factors and drug treatment in Dutch post-myocardial infarction (MI) patients between 2002 and 2006 and to make comparisons with the EUROASPIRE surveys (1999-2007). Methods We analysed data from 4837 post-MI patients (aged 69 years, 78% men) from 32 Dutch hospitals, using baseline cross-sectional data from the Alpha Omega Trial. Results Between 2002 and 2006, significant declines were found in the prevalence of smoking (23% to 16%, p<0.001), hypercholesterolaemia (≥5 mmol/l; 54% to 27%, p<0.0001) and hypertension (≥140/90 mmHg; 58% to 48%, p<0.001). The prevalence of antithrombotic drugs was high (97%). The prevalence of lipid-modifying drugs and antihypertensives was high, and increased (74% to 90%, p<0.0001 and 82% to 93%, p