Table 2.
Medication Use at Baseline and During First Year of Follow-Up
| Medication use | Systolic HF cohort (N = 46,885) | Diastolic HF cohort (N = 21,854) | P valuea |
| Before HF diagnosis | |||
| Overall CVD medication use | |||
| Patients with any HF medication, N (%) | 26,705 (57) | 14,450 (66.1) | <.001 |
| Patients with ≥1 HF medications, N | 26,705 | 14,450 | |
| HF medication classes | <.001 | ||
| 1 class, N (%) | 10,651 (39.9) | 4565 (31.6) | |
| 2 classes, N (%) | 9390 (35.2) | 5072 (35.1) | |
| ≥3 classes, N (%) | 6664 (24.9) | 4813 (33.3) | |
| Types of HF medications used, mean (SD) | 1.9 (0.97) | 2.2 (1.05) | <.001 |
| Specific CVD medications | |||
| ACE inhibitors, N (%) | 13,512 (28.8) | 6430 (29.4) | .105 |
| ARBs, N (%) | 7274 (15.5) | 4541 (20.8) | <.001 |
| Beta-blockers, N (%) | 13,842 (29.5) | 7554 (34.6) | <.001 |
| MRA, N (%) | 1234 (2.6) | 730 (3.3) | <.001 |
| Loop diuretics, N (%) | 6407 (13.7) | 5683 (26) | <.001 |
| Thiazide diuretics, N (%) | 5735 (12.2) | 3741 (17.1) | <.001 |
| Hydralazine/nitrate, N (%) | 2084 (4.4) | 1616 (7.4) | <.001 |
| Digoxin, N (%) | 1607 (3.4) | 777 (3.6) | .394 |
| Sacubitril/valsartan, N (%) | <10 (<0.1) | 0 (0) | .394 |
| SGLT2 inhibitors, N (%) | 75 (0.2) | 44 (0.2) | .224 |
| First-year medication use | |||
| Overall CVD medication use | |||
| Patients with any HF medications, N (%) | 36,595 (78.1) | 16,389 (75) | <.001 |
| Patients with ≥1 HF medications, N | 36,595 | 16,389 | |
| HF medication classes used | <.001 | ||
| 1 class, N (%) | 7808 (21.3) | 3584 (21.9) | |
| 2 classes, N (%) | 11,293 (30.9) | 5302 (32.3) | |
| ≥3 classes, N (%) | 17,494 (47.8) | 7503 (45.8) | |
| Types of HF medications used, mean, N (SD) | 2.6 (1.2) | 2.5 (1.14) | <.001 |
| Days covered, mean, N (SD) | 81.9 (25.48) | 82.2 (24.79) | .364 |
| Medication persistence in days, mean, N (SD) | 278.2 (123.21) | 273.9 (124.76) | <.001 |
| Specific CVD medications | |||
| ACE inhibitors, N (%) | 21,760 (46.4) | 6615 (30.3) | <.001 |
| ARBs, N (%) | 9332 (19.9) | 4537 (20.8) | .009 |
| Beta-blockers, N (%) | 26,507 (56.5) | 9787 (44.8) | <.001 |
| MRA, N (%) | 5783 (12.3) | 1621 (7.4) | <.001 |
| Loop diuretics, N (%) | 16,657 (35.5) | 10,900 (49.9) | <.001 |
| Thiazide diuretics, N (%) | 5041 (10.8) | 3178 (14.5) | <.001 |
| Hydralazine/nitrate, N (%) | 4081 (8.7) | 2554 (11.7) | <.001 |
| Digoxin, N (%) | 4171 (8.9) | 1339 (6.1) | <.001 |
| Sacubitril/valsartan, N (%) | 97 (0.2) | 0 (0) | <.001 |
| SGLT2 inhibitors, N (%) | 133 (0.3) | 55 (0.3) | .454 |
a
P value calculated using χ2 test for categorical variables and Wilcoxon rank sum test for continuous variables.
ACE indicates angiotensin-converting enzyme; ARB, angiotensin receptor blocker; CVD, cardiovascular disease; HF, heart failure; MRA, mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist; SD, standard deviation; SGLT, sodium-glucose cotransporter.