Pharmacotherapy of heart failure: Impact of the 2021 guideline update on guideline-directed medical therapy assessed using a Japanese employee health insurance claims database.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the impact of the 2021 guideline update on guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) utilization in patients with heart failure (HF).

BACKGROUND

The 2021 update of the Japanese guidelines for HF management followed the introduction of sacubitril/valsartan and dapagliflozin into clinical practice. However, the impact of this guideline update on drug utilization patterns remains unclear.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

Patient data were obtained from the Japanese employee health insurance claims database (JMDC). The simple GDMT score was determined based on the combination and dose of four key pharmacological classes: β-blockers, renin-angiotensin system inhibitors, mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists, and sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors. Because a simple GDMT score of ≥ 5 has been associated with improved prognosis in patients with HF, patients with scores ≥ 5 were classified into the high-score group for analysis.

RESULTS

Following the guideline update, the proportion of patients in the high-score group increased from 6.97% (n = 4,013) to 9.33% (n = 6,363), standardized difference 0.09. The mean simple GDMT score also showed a small but statistically significant increase (5.72 ± 0.79 vs. 6.00 ± 1.09) with standardized difference 0.28. This upward trend was particularly marked for the prescription rates of sacubitril/valsartan and dapagliflozin (sacubitril/valsartan: 1.40% before the update vs. 22.57% after the update; standardized difference, 0.69; dapagliflozin: 12.41% before the update vs. 26.64% after the update; standardized difference, 0.36).

CONCLUSION

The 2021 guideline update was associated with increased use of sacubitril/valsartan and dapagliflozin, resulting in greater overall GDMT intensity. However, these findings are limited to data from 2021, and further long-term studies are needed to evaluate trends in GDMT utilization.