Utilisation of medications recommended for chronic heart failure and the relationship with annual hospitalisation duration in patients over 75 years of age. A pharmacoepidemiological study

Trials in chronic heart failure (CHF) include few patients older than 75 years, who represent a large proportion of CHF patients. We evaluated the influence of age on CHF-medication use and of CHF medications on hospitalisation in patients older than 75 years. Included in our nested case-control study were 281 patients admitted in 2000 to a French teaching hospital with a main diagnosis of CHF and monitored over a 12-month period. Patient characteristics, medications at discharge, outpatient medications and hospitalisation frequency and duration were compared by means of univariate and multivariate analyses. Patients older than 75 years (n=150) and 75 years or younger (n=131) were similar with regard to NYHA class and ejection fraction. At discharge, diuretic use was similar in the two groups, but fewer older patients were prescribed angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors (48% versus 63%, P