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Zvonko Rumboldt, MD, PhD; Ivo Bozic, MD; Drago Rakic, MD, PhD
Split, Croatia

JAMA. 1997;277(18):1435-1436.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.

—The timely and most instructive article by Soumerai et al¹ about the underuse of β-blockers in secondary prevention of MI in the New Jersey area (only 21% of the eligibile elderly patients were receiving such a therapy) prompted us to report a related comparison from Europe. Analyzing the discharge letters issued to patients successfully treated for AMI in Barcelona, Spain, Agusti et al² have shown that in 1983 only 20% of the patients were advised to take β-blockers; this figure increased to 34% in 1988. At the time of discharge, all patients discharged from Barcelona hospitals receive enough medicine to last them for a few days and a discharge letter recommending that their family physicians should prescribe the same treatment for them. Assessing discharge letters sent to all patients with a diagnosis of AMI in Split, Croatia (another Mediterranean town with similar climate and approach), we³ found . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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