Introduction and objectives: There is scarce data on the safety of hospital stay length in uncomplicated ST- elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). We studied the trends of the hospital stay and the safety of short (≤3 days) vs. long hospital stay, in Spain.

Methods: Using data from the Minimum Basic Data set of Spanish taxpayer-funded health system. We identified patients with uncomplicated STEMI undergoing coronary angioplasty and who were discharged alive. The mean length of stay was calculated by multilevel Poisson regression with mixed-effects, including patients from 2003–15. The effect of short stay on cardiac diseases readmissions at 30 days and 1 year was evaluated by multilevel logistic regression, including patients from 2003–14. Thirty-day and 1-year cardiac diseases risk-standardized readmissions and mortality rates (RSRRs and RSMRs), respectively, were also compared.

Results: The adjusted mean length of stay was significantly reduced (incidence rate ratio <1; p<0.001) for each year since 2003. The percentage of short stay increased from 14.3% in 2003 to 19.5% in 2015 (p<0.001). In none of the specified models short stay was statistically significant (p>0.05). The RSRRs at 30 days and 1 year as well as RSMRs at 30 days, did not differ significantly between groups. 1-year RSMRs was significantly higher in the short stay group, although probably without clinical significance (0.103% vs. 0.109%, p<0.001). See Table.

Conclusions: In Spain, short hospital stay increased significantly from 2003 to 2015 and seems a safety option in uncomplicated STEMI patients.