Temporal trend of first-line drug choice and treatment continuity for hypertension among citizens 75 years or over - a register-based, cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Limited knowledge of antihypertensive treatment of the elderly potentially impedes effective strategies for hypertension management in this growing patient group. We aimed to investigate temporal trends for first-line drug choice for antihypertensive treatment and treatment continuity among patients ≥75 years from 2000 to 2021. METHODS: Using nationwide Danish registers, patients ≥75 years initiated for the first time on antihypertensive drugs: Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEi), angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB), beta blockers (BB), calcium channel blockers (CCB), thiazides, or combinations, were identified. Patients with other indications than hypertension were excluded. Treatment continuity was described using claimed prescriptions the first 180 days following study entry. RESULTS: From 2000 to 2021, 170,769 patients (median age 80 years [interquartile range:77-84], 60.3% female) were included. From 2000 to 2003 to 2015-2021 the proportion of first-line drug choice increased for ACEi (8.7% to 14.9%), ARB (4.1% to 23.9%), and CCB (10.7% to 27.6%), decreased for thiazides (60.6% to 15.9%) and remained stable for BB (12.9% to 14.1%) and combinations (2.9% to 3.6%). For 157,457 patients alive after 180 days, discontinuation was highest among patients initiated on thiazides (28.3%) whereas most patients continued the same single drug regimen if they started on ACEi (55.2%), ARB (65.0%), BB (57.2%) or CCB (59.3%). CONCLUSIONS: From 2000 to 2021 thiazides have been replaced by ACEi, ARB and CCB. Thiazides had the lowest treatment continuity while ARB appeared preferred slightly over ACEi. Differences in adherence in relation to first-line drug choice may warrant scrutiny regarding recommendations for the elderly.

Impact of breast-, gastrointestinal-, and lung cancer on prognosis in patients with first-time pulmonary embolism: A Danish nationwide cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary embolism (PE) is described as a prognostic factor in patients with cancer however, the prognostic impact of PE remains unknown. This study investigated, the 1-year prognosis following PE in patients with breast-, gastrointestinal-, or lung cancer stratified by cancer status. METHODS: All Danish patients with first-time PE from 2008 to 2018 were included. Cancer status was categorized as no cancer, history of cancer, non-active cancer and active cancer. Unadjusted and age-stratified 1-year risk of death was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier estimator. Cause of death was reported using the Aalen-Johansen method. RESULTS: Of 35,679 patients with PE, 18% had a breast-, gastrointestinal-, or lung cancer. Patients with cancer were older compared with no cancer (69.8 years [IQR: 56.2-79.8]). One-year risk of death (95% confidence interval) for active breast-, gastrointestinal-, and lung cancer was 49.5% (44.0%-54.9%), 75.0% (72.5%-77.4%) and 80.1% (78.0%-82.3%) respectively, compared with 18.9% (18.4%-19.3%) for no cancer. Age-stratified analysis revealed no association with increasing age in non-active lung cancer and all active cancers. Further, non-cardiovascular death accounted for an increasing proportion by cancer status (no cancer < history of cancer < non-active cancer < active cancer). CONCLUSIONS: One-year risk of death was dependent on both cancer type and status; no association with age was found for patients with active cancers. Non-cardiovascular death was leading in non-active and active cancers. Thus, the occurrence of first-time PE could be regarded as a marker of cancer severity for patients with breast-, gastrointestinal-, and lung cancer.

Patient mortality following new-onset heart failure stratified by cancer type and status.

AIM: Expected 1-year survival is essential to risk stratification of patients with heart failure (HF); however, little is known about the 1-year prognosis of patients with HF and cancer. Thus, the objective was to investigate the 1-year prognosis following new-onset HF stratified by cancer status in patients with breast, gastrointestinal, or lung cancer. METHODS AND RESULTS: All Danish patients with new-onset HF from 2000 to 2018 were included. Cancer status was categorized as history of cancer (no cancer-related contact within 5 years of HF diagnosis), non-active cancer (curative intended procedure administered) and active cancer. Standardized 1-year all-cause mortality was reported using G-computation. Age-stratified 1-year all-cause mortality was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier estimator. In total, 193 359 patients with HF were included, 7.3% had either a breast, gastrointestinal, or lung cancer diagnosis. Patients with cancer were older and more comorbid than patients without cancer. Standardized 1-year all-cause mortality (95% confidence intervals) was 24.6% (23.0-26.2%), 27.1% (25.5-28.6%), and 29.9% (25.9-34.0%) for history of breast, gastrointestinal and lung cancer, respectively, which was comparable to patients with non-active cancers. For active breast, gastrointestinal and lung cancer, standardized 1-year all-cause mortality was 36.2% (33.8-38.6%), 49.0% (47.2-50.9%), and 61.6% (59.7-63.5%), respectively. One-year all-cause mortality increased incrementally with age, except for active lung cancer. CONCLUSION: Standardized 1-year all-cause mortality was comparable for patients with history of cancer and non-active cancer regardless of cancer type, but varied comprehensively for active cancers. Prognostic impact of age was limited for active lung cancer. Thus, granular stratification of cancer is necessary for optimized management of new-onset HF.