Age-related differences in the intake of heart failure therapy among participants from the MyoVasc study.
Older adults with heart failure are prescribed aldosterone antagonists less often than younger adults.
Age-related differences in the intake of heart failure therapy among participants from the MyoVasc study.
In Germany, heart failure (heart failure) is the most common diagnosis in hospitalized patients.
To investigate whether older individuals (≥70 years) with heart failure receive guideline-recommended heartfailure medications less frequently than younger individuals.
Underwent a 5-h highly standardized examination, including assessment of medication with subsequent categorization according to the anatomical therapeutic chemical (anatomical therapeutic chemical) coding system.
aldosterone antagonist use was lower in older adults
The analyzed sample comprised 1281 older adults (mean age: 75.4 ± 3.6 years, 33.1% women, 66.9% men) and 2,008 younger adults (mean age: 57.7 ± 8.5 years, 35,2% women, 64.8% men).
A total of 68.5% (n = 878) of the older individuals presented with heart failure stage C/D, compared to 43% (n = 863) in younger adults.
On average, older individuals took 6.53 (standard deviation (SD) ± 3.14) drugs as compared to younger participants taking 4.65 (SD ± 3.45) drugs regardless of the severity of heart failure.
Beta-blockers were used significantly less frequently in older adults compared to younger adults (Prevalence Ratio: 0.93, 95%CI 0.88; 0.99, p = 0.016).
The present study identified age-related disparities in the use of guideline-based therapy for heart failure. These differences persisted even after adjusting for renal dysfunction, a common and relevant comorbidity in the aged population.
These findings suggest a potential underutilization of evidence-based heart failure therapies in older individuals with heart failure. TRIAL REGISTRY: NCT04064450.