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5PSQ-077 Review of atenolol use in patients with heart failure

ejhpharm · 2026-03-18 · canonical JSON source

33 visible annotations · policy: published · automated confidence ≥ 75.00%

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Background and Importance Beta-blockers are indicated for chronic heart failure. Bisoprolol, metoprolol, carvedilol, and nebivolol are the beta-blockers that have an approved indication in their technical documentation for use in heart failure; however, atenolol does not have this indication.Aim and Objectives To identify hospitalised patients on atenolol who have chronic heart failure, inform the responsible physician that there is no approved indication for atenolol in heart failure, and assess the level of acceptance of the pharmaceutical intervention.Material and Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital, including patients treated with atenolol from December 2024 to April 2025. The pharmacist reviewed whether patients prescribed atenolol had heart failure. If so, the physician was informed that atenolol is not indicated for chronic heart failure and advised to consider substituting it with another beta-blocker that has an approved indication at an equivalent dose. Subsequently, the acceptance level of this intervention was evaluated.Demographic data (gender and age), clinical data (clinical service involved, cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF)), pharmacological data (daily dose of atenolol and prior prescriptions before admission), and response to the pharmaceutical intervention were collected.Qualitative variables were expressed as absolute frequencies and percentages, while quantitative variables were expressed as means and standard deviations.Results A total of 52 patients on atenolol were included, with 32 being men (62.8%), and a mean age of 72 ± 10.7 years. The mean dose of atenolol was 51 ± 23mg. The patients‘ CVRF included: 35 (68.6%) hypertension, 16 (31.4%) dyslipidemia, 16 (31.4%) diabetes, 13 (25.5%) atrial fibrillation, 6 (11.8%) heart failure. The physician was informed about the unapproved use of atenolol for heart failure; in 5 patients, the physicians substituted it with another beta-blocker that has an approved indication (83.33%), and in one case (16.67%), atenolol was discontinued. Of these 6 patients, 4 were from the Internal Medicine Service. Additionally, among these 6 patients, 3 had one CVRF, 2 had two CVRF, and 1 had three.Conclusion and Relevance In our hospital, nearly 1 in 10 patients on atenolol had heart failure. The review of treatment by the pharmacist allowed for the detection of these cases, which were fully accepted by the responsible physicians.Conflict of Interest No conflict of interest