The objective of this study was to compare the management of diabetic and non-diabetic patients before, during and after hospitalization for myocardial infarction (MI). METHODS: Hospital admissions for MI in France from January to June 2006 were obtained from the national hospital-discharge database and merged with data on medications, 6 months before and after hospitalization of patients covered by the general health insurance scheme. Diabetic patients were identified by having at least two refunds for antidiabetic medications 6 months before the index hospitalization. Results comparing diabetic and non-diabetic patients were adjusted for age and gender. RESULTS: Of the 14,007 patients included in the study, 2545 were diabetic (18.2%). Before hospital admission, diabetic patients more frequently received secondary cardiovascular preventative medications (12.7% vs 4.2%; P<0.0001) and stent implants (4.2% vs 2.2%; P<0.0001) than did non-diabetic patients. During hospitalization and the following month, angioplasty (56.1% vs 61.7%; P=0.0001) and stent implantation (53.3% vs 59.3%; P<0.0001) were less frequently performed in diabetic patients and only coronary angiography was done in similar proportions of diabetic and non-diabetic patients (16.7% vs 15.2%). In addition, during the 6 months after hospitalization, diabetic vs non-diabetic patients had more admissions for cardiovascular reasons (36.9% vs 29.5%; P<0.0001) and were prescribed more secondary preventative medications (65.9% vs 61.7%; P<0.0001). They were also more frequently treated with insulin only (19.6% 6 months before vs 27.2% 6 months after) or oral antidiabetic drugs (14.6% vs 19.7%, respectively) than were non-diabetics. CONCLUSION: French diabetic patients subsequent to MI undergo fewer angioplasty procedures than do non-diabetic patients. After the acute stage, secondary preventative medications are used more often, with a marked rise in the use of insulin. (R.A.)