Abstract Introduction The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of depression on health behavior among myocardial infarction (MI) survivors. Methods This retrospective, cross-sectional study used publicly available 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data. Our study sample includes adults aged 50 years or older who completed the 2015 BRFSS survey and reported having MI. The BRFSS participants with a yes response to the question, Has a doctor, nurse, or other health care professional ever told you that you had a heart attack, also called a myocardial infarction? were identified as MI survivors. The presence or absence of depression among MI survivors was identified using a similar question. Health behaviors, the dependent variable of this study, included physical activity, smoking status, alcohol use, body mass index, last flu immunization, last physical checkup, last blood cholesterol check, heavy drinking, and vegetable and fruit consumption. Univariate (χ2 tests) and multivariable (binomial logistic regression) analyses were used to assess the differences in health behaviors between MI survivors with or without depression. Results Our final study sample consists of 20 483 older adults with MI among whom 5343 (26.19%) reported having depression. Multivariable analyses reveal MI survivors with depression are more overweight, have less physical activity, and have higher likelihood of smoking but less odds of consuming alcohol compared to MI survivors without depression. Discussion In this nationally representative sample of adults aged over 50 years in the United States, MI survivors with depression exhibited poorer health behaviors compared to those without depression.

measured using the medication possession ratio (MPR). Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted using data from a large private health insurance claims database, years 2007-2014. Subjects were included based on having at least 2 hypertension diagnosis and having filled an antihypertensive prescription (N=595,056). The date of the first fill is the subject's index date, and subjects were required to have at least 6 months of data in the pre-index and 12 months post-index. MPR was calculated for the duration of therapy. Health related expenditures were calculated for both the pre and post periods, in terms of pharmacy, inpatient, medical, and total costs. Covariates of interest included age, gender, health insurance type, geographic region, comorbidities, and previous 6 months total health expenditures. Analyses on costs utilized generalized linear models (GLM) and 2-part regression models. Analyses for time to event outcomes will utilize Cox survival models. Results: Descriptively, 53% of the population is male, 80% of the population is under 65, 58% had a point-of-service health plan, 38% had an MPR of 1, and 14% an MPR less than 0.05. Preliminary analyses indicate that a higher MPR correlates with higher pharmacy costs