Lim KP, et al. - This study analyzed medical records of patients hospitalized for acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD) in order to determine possible under-use of beta-blockers (BBs) and inpatient rates of cardiovascular (CVS) and cerebrovascular complications and their impact on patient outcomes. Findings demonstrated that even when clearly indicated, BBs were under-prescribed in COPD patients.

Methods

• In this study, retrospective hospital data was collected over a 12-month period.
• Researchers analyzed the medical records of all patients >40 years of age coded with a diagnosis of AECOPD.
• They examined prevalent use and incident initiation of BBs.
• They also analyzed comorbidities including indications and contraindications for BB use.

Results

• Findings demonstrated that out of the 366 eligible patients, 156 patients (42.6%) had at least one indication for BB use – of these patients, only 53 (34.0%) were on BB therapy and 61 (39.1%) were not on BB therapy but had no listed contraindication.
• Researchers noted that prevalent use of BBs at the time of admission in all 366 patients was 19.7%, compared with 45.6%, 39.6% and 45.9% use of anti-platelets, statins and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin II receptor blockers, respectively.
• In addition, they commonly reported CVS and cerebrovascular complications in this population (57 patients, 16%) and these complications were related to longer length of stay (p<0.01) and greater inpatient mortality (p=0.02).