Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of nursing home resident Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized for decompensated heart failure, by the receipt of a discharge prescription for angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), before and after propensity score matching
| n (%) or mean (±SD) | Pre-match (N=542) |
Post-match (N=314) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Use of ACE inhibitors or ARBs |
P value | Use of ACE inhibitors or ARBs |
P value | |||
| No (n=292) | Yes (n=250) | No (n=157) | Yes (n=157) | |||
| Age (years) | 83 (±8) | 83 (±9) | 0.978 | 83 (±8) | 83 (±9) | 0.801 |
| Female | 211 (72%) | 192 (77%) | 0.228 | 115 (73%) | 117 (75%) | 0.797 |
| African American | 52 (18%) | 50 (20%) | 0.515 | 27 (17%) | 26 (17%) | 0.880 |
| Current smoker | 15 (5%) | 11 (4%) | 0.689 | 10 (6%) | 6 (4%) | 0.305 |
| LVEF < 45% | 42 (14%) | 79 (32%) | <0.001 | 37(24%) | 31 (20%) | 0.411 |
| Past medical history | ||||||
| History of heart failure | 214 (73%) | 198 (79%) | 0. 108 | 126 (80%) | 125 (80%) | 0.888 |
| Hypertension | 192 (66%) | 183 (73%) | 0.061 | 110 (70%) | 112 (71%) | 0.804 |
| Coronary artery disease | 129 (44%) | 119 (48%) | 0.425 | 73 (47%) | 76 (48%) | 0.735 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 117 (40%) | 120 (48%) | 0.064 | 70 (45%) | 66 (42%) | 0.649 |
| Atrial fibrillation | 75 (26%) | 80 (32%) | 0.105 | 47 (30%) | 46 (29%) | 0.902 |
| Stroke | 116 (40%) | 93 (37%) | 0.547 | 67 (43%) | 58 (37%) | 0.299 |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 119 (41%) | 74 (30%) | 0.007 | 60 (38%) | 59 (38%) | 0.907 |
| Dementia | 143 (49%) | 108 (43%) | 0.179 | 69 (44%) | 70 (45%) | 0.910 |
| Clinical findings | ||||||
| Pulse (beats per minute) | 93 (±24) | 90 (±22) | 0.093 | 92 (±24) | 91 (±23) | 0.767 |
| Systolic blood pressure (mmHg) | 143 (±30) | 146 (±33) | 0.230 | 146(±30) | 144 (±33) | 0.595 |
| Pulmonary edema by chest x-ray | 246 (84%) | 207 (83%) | 0.650 | 136 (87%) | 134(85%) | 0.745 |
| Laboratory values | ||||||
| Serum creatinine (mg/dL) | 1.6 (±1.1) | 1.3 (±0.7) | 0.003 | 1.4 (±0.7) | 1.4 (±0.8) | 0.671 |
| In-hospital events | ||||||
| Pneumonia (any) | 134 (46%) | 108 (43%) | 0.530 | 71 (45%) | 71 (45%) | 1.000 |
| Acute myocardial infarction | 15 (5%) | 13 (5%) | 0.974 | 9 (6%) | 10 (6%) | 0.813 |
| Pressure ulcer | 84 (29%) | 62 (25%) | 0.299 | 41 (26%) | 38 (24%) | 0.696 |
| Hospital and care characteristics | ||||||
| Rural hospital | 109 (37%) | 105 (42%) | 0.267 | 66 (42%) | 63 (40%) | 0.731 |
| Cardiology consult | 93 (32%) | 82 (33%) | 0.813 | 56 (36%) | 52 (33%) | 0.635 |
| Intensive care unit | 10 (3%) | 8 (3%) | 0.884 | 6 (4%) | 3 (2%) | 0.310 |
| Length of stay (days) | 7 (±5) | 7 (±6) | 0.893 | 7 (±5) | 8 (±6) | 0.528 |
| Discharge medications | ||||||
| Beta-blockers | 43 (15%) | 64 (26%) | 0.002 | 35 (22%) | 34 (22%) | 0.892 |
| Digoxin | 100 (34%) | 126 (50%) | <0.001 | 69 (44%) | 68 (43%) | 0.909 |
| Loop diuretics | 208 (71%) | 221 (88%) | <0.001 | 130 (83%) | 130 (83%) | 1.000 |
| Potassium-sparing diuretics | 23 (8%) | 41 (16%) | 0.002 | 16 (10%) | 19 (12%) | 0.591 |
| Potassium supplements | 124 (43%) | 114 (46%) | 0.464 | 68 (43%) | 53 (48%) | 0.365 |