Early beta-blocker therapy for acute myocardial infarction in elderly patients.

BACKGROUND: Despite the evidence supporting the importance of early beta-blocker therapy, this intervention has received little attention as an indicator of quality of care.
OBJECTIVES: To determine how often beta-blockers are administered as early treatment of acute myocardial infarction in patients 65 years of age or older, to identify predictors of the decision to use beta-blockers, and to evaluate the association between the early use of beta-blockers and in-hospital mortality.
DESIGN: Observational study.
SETTING: Nongovernment, acute care hospitals in the United States. PATIENTS: Medicare beneficiaries who were 65 years of age or older, were hospitalized with an acute myocardial infarction in 1994 and 1995, and did not have a contraindication to beta-blocker therapy. MEASUREMENTS: Medical chart review to obtain information about the use of beta-blockers, contraindications to these drugs, patient demographics, and clinical factors.
RESULTS: Of the 58 165 patients (from a total of 4414 hospitals), 28 256 (49%) received early beta-blocker therapy. Patients with the highest risk for in-hospital death were the least likely to receive therapy. Patients who received beta-blockers had a lower in-hospital mortality rate than patients who did not receive beta-blockers (odds ratio, 0.81 [95% CI, 0.75 to 0.87]), even after adjustment for baseline differences in demographic, clinical, and treatment characteristics between the two groups.
CONCLUSIONS: Early beta-blocker therapy was not used for 51% of elderly patients who were hospitalized with an acute myocardial infarction and did not have a contraindication to this therapy. Increasing the early use of beta-blockers for these patients would provide an excellent opportunity to improve their care and outcomes.