Table 1.
Aspirin, β blocker, ACE inhibitor and statin use
| Antiplatelet or warfarin | ACE inhibitor or angiotensin II blocker | Statin | ||||||
| Aspirin | Any | β Blocker | All patients | Patients with LVF | All patients | Cholesterol ⩾5.0 (all ages) | Cholesterol ⩾5.0 (age⩽75) | |
| At admission | ||||||||
| Taking drug | 82 (27%) | 99 (33%) | 52 (17%) | 55 (19%) | 34 (18%) | 32 (11%) | 12 (6%) | 11 (7%) |
| ACE-I dose* | – | – | – | 5.9% | 4.6% | – | – | – |
| At discharge | ||||||||
| Taking drug | 255 (85%)† | 286 (96%)† | 180 (60%)† | 159 (53%)† | 124 (66%)† | 180 (60%)† | 149 (75%)† | 129 (83%)† |
| Valid exclusion | 38 (13%) | – | 102 (34%) | – | 23 (12%) | – | 12 (6%) | 9 (6%) |
| ACE-I dose* | – | – | – | 18.7%† | 23.0%† | – | – | – |
| % appropriate use across hospitals | 97–100‡ | – | 92–96‡ | – | 78–88‡ | – | 77–93§ | – |
| At follow up | ||||||||
| Taking drug | 167 (81%)¶ | 199 (96%) | 120 (58%)¶ | 119 (57%)¶ | 84 (67%)‡ | 141 (68%)‡ | 114 (76%)‡ | 95 (80%)‡ |
| Stopped taking drug | 18 | 6 | 26 | 17 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 11 |
| Started | 6 | 8 | 13 | 31 | 17 | 19 | 11 | 6 |
| ACE-I dose* | – | – | – | 21.3%† | 23.2%‡ | – | – | – |
Patient data are presented as number of patients (percentage of totals).
* Mean dose expressed as % maximum British National Formulary recommended; † p<0.001; ‡ not significant; § p<0.05 (Kruskal–Wallis test);¶ p<0.05 (Wilcoxon signed rank test statistic for admission to discharge and discharge to follow up).
ACE-I, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor; LVF, left ventricular failure.