Abstract:

Objective To analyze the composition and influencing factors of hospitalization costs for acute myocardial infarction（AMI） patients admitted to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from September 2021 to November 2024，thereby providing data support for optimizing healthcare resource allocation and improving medical insurance policies. Methods Descriptive statistics and multivariate linear regression were performed on AMI patient data to assess key factors affecting hospitalization costs，including demographic characteristics，baseline information，medical insurance type，comorbidities，and traditional Chinese medicine（TCM） treatments. Results A total of 1 081 AMI patients were included，with a median age of 68 years and a male proportion of 65.4%.The median hospitalization cost was CNY 25 000，and the median hospital stay was 8 days.The dominant TCM syndrome patterns were phlegm-stasis obstruction（68.0%） and blood stasis obstructing the heart（24.5%）. The proportion of hospitalization expenses，consumables，and diagnostic examinations costs had been increasing year by year，while the proportion of drug costs had decreased. Older age（β=-0.007，P<0.01），self-pay insurance（β=-0.303，P<0.01），prolonged hospitalization（β=0.066，P<0.01），death at discharge（β=-0.282，P<0.01），yang-qi deficiency syndrome（β=-0.189，P<0.05），prior myocardial infarction history（β=-0.122，P<0.05），and acupoint application therapy（β=0.142，P<0.01） showed significant differences in logarithmic values of hospitalization cost，with the model explaining 53.6% of cost variability（adjusted R²=0.536）. Conclusion The study indicates a continuous upward trend in hospitalization costs for AMI patients from 2021 to 2024，characterized by a significant increase in the proportion of diagnostic examinations and a decline in both medication and consumables expenditures.Key influencing factors include advanced age，prolonged hospital stays，yang-qi deficiency syndrome，and acupoint application therapy.In this regard，it is recommended to strengthen regulatory oversight over consumables and diagnostic examination costs，optimize tiered medical insurance reimbursement policies for high-risk populations（e.g.，self-pay patients and those with prior myocardial infarction），and enhance resource allocation for syndrome-specific TCM management and evidence-based integration of traditional therapies（e.g.，acupoint application），in order to provide a scientific foundation for controlling AMI treatment costs and advancing precision cost-management through integrated Chinese-Western medical approaches.

Key words: Acute myocardial infarction, Inpatient costs, Linear regression, Medical costs