Patients with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) encounter significant barriers to receiving quality health care, particularly for acute conditions such as non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). This study addresses the critical gap in knowledge regarding in-hospital outcomes and the use of invasive therapies in this demographic. By analyzing data from the National Inpatient Sample database from 2011 to 2020 using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Edition (ICD-9) and Tenth Edition (ICD-10) codes, we identified patients with NSTEMI, both with and without NDDs, and compared baseline characteristics, in-hospital outcomes, and the application of invasive treatments. The analysis involved a weighted sample of 7,482,216 NSTEMI hospitalizations, of which 30,168 (0.40%) patients had NDDs. There were significantly higher comorbidity-adjusted odds of in-hospital mortality, cardiac arrest, endotracheal intubation, infectious complications, ventricular arrhythmias, and restraint use among the NDD cohort. Conversely, this group exhibited lower adjusted odds of undergoing left heart catheterization, percutaneous coronary intervention, or coronary artery bypass graft surgery. These findings underscore the disparities faced by patients with NDDs in accessing invasive cardiac interventions, highlighting the need for further research to address these barriers and improve care quality for this vulnerable population.
Keywords: acute coronary syndrome; healthcare equity; neurodivergent; non-st segment elevation myocardial infarction (nstemi); primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pci).
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