Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of patients hospitalized for HF and LVEF <45% on β‐blockers, by the receipt of a new discharge prescription for digoxin, before and after propensity‐score matching
| Pre‐match, n = 634 | Post‐match, n = 334 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digoxin on Discharge | P Value | Digoxin on Discharge | P Value | |||
| No, n = 430 | Yes, n = 204 | No, n = 167 | Yes, n = 167 | |||
| Age, y | 72.5 ± 11.1 | 74.0 ± 9.9 | 0.084 | 73.2 ± 10.9 | 73.8 ± 9.8 | 0.605 |
| Female sex | 202 (47) | 86 (42) | 0.255 | 79 (47) | 73 (44) | 0.510 |
| African American ethnicity | 126 (29) | 54 (27) | 0.460 | 52 (31) | 48 (29) | 0.633 |
| Current smoker | 64 (15) | 36 (18) | 0.373 | 35 (21) | 28 (17) | 0.328 |
| Nursing home resident | 14 (3) | 7 (3) | 0.908 | 9 (5) | 6 (4) | 0.428 |
| LVEF, % | 30 ± 8 | 28 ± 8 | 0.003 | 28 ± 8 | 29 ± 8 | 0.226 |
| Prior HF | 297 (69) | 123 (60) | 0.029 | 107 (64) | 104 (62) | 0.734 |
| Comorbidities | ||||||
| HTN | 336 (78) | 153 (75) | 0.379 | 139 (83) | 132 (79) | 0.328 |
| DM | 210 (49) | 82 (40) | 0.041 | 77 (46) | 74 (44) | 0.742 |
| CAD | 294 (68) | 120 (59) | 0.018 | 102 (61) | 101 (61) | 0.911 |
| LBBB | 77 (18) | 34 (17) | 0.701 | 28 (17) | 28 (17) | 1.000 |
| AF | 60 (14) | 66 (32) | <0.001 | 40 (24) | 41 (25) | 0.898 |
| Stroke | 89 (21) | 35 (17) | 0.294 | 30 (18) | 31 (19) | 0.887 |
| COPD | 121 (28) | 55 (27) | 0.757 | 42 (25) | 46 (28) | 0.619 |
| Dementia | 23 (5) | 15 (7) | 0.321 | 14 (8) | 13 (8) | 0.841 |
| Cancer | 9 (2) | 5 (3) | 0.774 | 4 (2) | 4 (2) | 1.000 |
| Clinical and laboratory findings | ||||||
| Pulse, bpm | 89 ± 22 | 99 ± 25 | <0.001 | 97 ± 22 | 94 ± 23 | 0.335 |
| SBP, mm Hg | 152 ± 32 | 146 ± 30 | 0.019 | 149 ± 34 | 149 ± 30 | 0.980 |
| DBP, mm Hg | 84 ± 21 | 84 ± 20 | 1.000 | 87 ± 22 | 83 ± 20 | 0.118 |
| Respiration, breaths/min | 24 ± 7 | 24 ± 6 | 0.602 | 25 ± 7 | 24 ± 6 | 0.369 |
| Pulmonary edema by chest x‐ray | 287 (67) | 155 (76) | 0.018 | 127 (76) | 126 (75) | 0.898 |
| sCr, mg/dL | 1.8 ± 1.6 | 1.6 ± 1.2 | 0.042 | 1.7 ± 1.4 | 1.6 ± 1.2 | 0.496 |
| In‐hospital events | ||||||
| Pneumonia | 95 (22) | 59 (29) | 0.061 | 39 (23) | 44 (26) | 0.527 |
| Acute MI | 26 (6) | 16 (8) | 0.395 | 15 (9) | 11 (7) | 0.414 |
| Pressure ulcer | 28 (7) | 14 (7) | 0.868 | 8 (5) | 11 (7) | 0.479 |
| Hospital and care characteristics | ||||||
| Rural hospital | 91 (21) | 43 (21) | 0.981 | 35 (21) | 37 (22) | 0.790 |
| Cardiology consult | 300 (70) | 168 (82) | 0.001 | 132 (79) | 134 (80) | 0.786 |
| ICU | 16 (4) | 10 (5) | 0.484 | 6 (4) | 8 (5) | 0.585 |
| Length of stay, d | 6 ± 4 | 7 ± 4 | 0.001 | 7 ± 4 | 7 ± 4 | 0.292 |
| Discharge medications | ||||||
| ACEI/ARBs | 298 (69) | 165 (81) | 0.002 | 130 (78) | 132 (79) | 0.790 |
| β‐Blockersa | 430 (100) | 204 (100) | 1.00 | 167 (100) | 167 (100) | 1.00 |
| Loop diuretics | 359 (84) | 173 (85) | 0.674 | 147 (88) | 144 (86) | 0.624 |
| Potassium‐sparing diuretics | 79 (18) | 55 (27) | 0.013 | 44 (26) | 40 (24) | 0.614 |
Abbreviations: ACEI, angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitor; AF, atrial fibrillation; ARB, angiotensin II receptor blocker; CAD, coronary artery disease; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; DM, diabetes mellitus; HF, heart failure; HTN, hypertension; ICU, intensive care unit; LBBB, left bundle branch block; LVEF, left ventricular ejection fraction; MI, myocardial infarction; SBP, systolic blood pressure; sCr, serum creatinine; SD, standard deviation.
Values are presented as n (%) or mean ± SD.
All patients are on β‐blockers by study design.