Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

β-Blocker Prescription and Outcomes in Hemodialysis Patients from The Japan Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study

2009; Karger Publishers; Volume: 113; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1159/000232593

1660-2110

Kazushi Nakao, Hirofumi Makino, Satoshi Morita, Yoshimitsu Takahashi, Tadao Akizawa, Akira Saitō, Yasushi Asano, Kiyoshi Kurokawa, Shunichi Fukuhara, Takashi Akiba,

Dialysis and Renal Disease Management

<i>Background/Aims:</i> Given the clear benefits of mortality reduction observed for most β-blockers in clinical trials, they are relatively underused in hemodialysis patients. Since the outcomes associated with the use of β-blockers are not fully known, we investigated their effect on mortality among a cohort of hemodialysis patients. <i>Methods:</i> Data were analyzed from the Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study phase II for 2,286 randomly selected patients on hemodialysis in Japan. Treatment with β-blockers was the major predictor variable. The main outcome measure was all-cause mortality. Cox regression analysis was used to assess an association between treatment with β-blockers and the risk of death. <i>Results:</i> 247 patients (11.9%) were administered β-blockers and 1,828 patients (88.1%) were not. Whereas patients treated with β-blockers had a higher prevalence of hypertension and coronary heart disease, Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that all-cause mortality rates were significantly (p < 0.007) decreased in patients treated with β-blockers compared to those without. In multivariable, fully adjusted models, treatment with β-blockers was also independently associated with reduced all-cause mortality (hazard ratio = 0.48; p = 0.02). <i>Conclusion:</i> This study indicated a possible association between the use of β-blockers and reduced risk of mortality in hemodialysis patients. These results should be confirmed in further randomized controlled trials.