Aims: Almost a third of outpatients with chronic coronary artery disease (CAD) report having angina in the prior month, which is frequently under-recognized by their cardiologists. Whether under-recognition is associated with less treatment escalation to control angina, and potential underuse of treatment, is unknown.
Methods and results: Patients with CAD from 25 US cardiology outpatient practices completed the Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ) prior to their clinic visit, and angina was categorized as daily, weekly, monthly and no angina. Cardiologists (n=155) independently quantified patients' angina, blinded to patients' SAQ scores. Under-recognition was defined as the physician reporting a lower category of angina frequency than the patient. Among 1257 patients with CAD, 411 reported angina in the past month, of whom 178 (43.3%) patients were under-recognized. Treatment escalation-defined as intensification (up-titration or addition) of antianginal medications, referral for diagnostic testing or revascularization, or hospital admission-occurred in 106 (25.8%) patients with angina. Patients with under-recognized angina were less likely to get treatment escalation than patients whose angina was appropriately recognized (8.4% vs 39.1%, P<0.001). In a hierarchical multivariable logistic regression model adjusting for demographic and clinical characteristics, as well as the burden of angina, under-recognition remained strongly associated with a lack of treatment escalation (adjusted OR 0.10, 95% CI 0.04-0.21, P<0.001).
Conclusions: Under-recognition of angina in cardiology outpatient practices is associated with less aggressive treatment escalation and may lead to poorer angina control. Standardizing clinical recognition of angina using validated tools could reduce under-recognition of angina, facilitate treatment, and potentially improve outcomes.
Keywords: angina; antianginal medications; coronary artery disease; quality of care.