Is the gap between guidelines and clinical practice in heart failure treatment being filled? Insights from the IMPACT RECO survey.

BACKGROUND

Recent registries have shown that recommended drugs for the treatment of chronic heart failure (CHF) are under-prescribed in daily practice.

AIMS: To determine prescription rates of CHF drugs, and to assess predictive factors for drug prescription using data from a large panel of French cardiologists.

METHODS AND

RESULTS

We included 1919 outpatients, with NYHA class II-IV heart failure and a left ventricular ejection fraction <40%. The most frequently prescribed drugs were diuretics (83%), angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-I) (71%), beta-blockers (65%), spironolactone (35%) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) (21%); 61% of patients received a combination of a beta-blocker and an ACE-I or ARB. Target doses were reached in 49% of the patients for ACE-I, but in only 18% for beta-blockers and in 9% for ARBs. Multivariate analyses showed that age >75 years was an independent factor associated with under-prescription of ACE-I-ARBs, beta-blockers or spironolactone. Renal failure was associated with a lower prescription of ACE-I-ARB and spironolactone, and asthma was a predictor of under-prescription of beta-blockers.

CONCLUSIONS

In this contemporary survey, prescription rates of CHF drugs were higher than previously reported. However, dosages were lower than those recommended in guidelines. Age remained an independent predictor of under-prescription of CHF drugs.