Back to Journals » Clinical Interventions in Aging » Volume 8

Impact of beta2-agonists, beta-blockers, and their combination on cardiac function in elderly male patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Authors Zeng L, Hu Y, Liu L, Zhang L, Cui H

Received 8 June 2013

Accepted for publication 19 July 2013

Published 10 September 2013 Volume 2013:8 Pages 1157—1165

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/CIA.S49644

Checked for plagiarism Yes

Review by Single anonymous peer review

Peer reviewer comments 5



Long-Huan Zeng,1,* Yi-Xin Hu,2,* Lin Liu,2 Meng Zhang,1 Hua Cui1

1Second Geriatric Cardiology Division, 2Clinical Department of Geriatrics, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, People's Republic of China

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Purpose: This study was undertaken to determine the association between cardiac function and therapy with beta2-adrenoceptor agonists (β2-agonists), β-blockers, or β-blocker–β2-agonist combination therapy in elderly male patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Patients and methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of 220 elderly male COPD patients (mean age 84.1 ± 6.9 years). The patients were divided into four groups on the basis of the use of β-blockers and β2-agonists. N-terminal fragment pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT pro-BNP), left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and other relevant parameters were measured and recorded. At follow-up, the primary end point was all-cause mortality.
Results: Multiple linear regression analysis revealed no significant associations between NT pro-BNP and the use of β2-agonists (β = 35.502, P = 0.905), β-blockers (β = 3.533, P = 0.989), or combination therapy (β = 298.635, P = 0.325). LVEF was not significantly associated with the use of β2-agonists (β = −0.360, P = 0.475), β-blockers (β = −0.411, P = 0.284), or combination therapy (β = −0.397, P = 0.435). Over the follow-up period, 52 patients died, but there was no significant difference in mortality among the four groups (P = 0.357). Kaplan–Meier analysis showed no significant difference among the study groups (log-rank test, P = 0.362). After further multivariate adjustment, use of β2-agonists (hazard ratio [HR] 0.711, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.287–1.759; P = 0.460), β-blockers (HR 0.962, 95% CI 0.405–2.285; P = 0.930), or combination therapy (HR 0.638, 95% CI 0.241–1.689; P < 0.366) were likewise not correlated with mortality.
Conclusion: There was no association between the use of β2-agonists, β-blockers, or β-blocker–β2-agonist combination therapy with cardiac function and all-cause mortality in elderly male COPD patients, which indicated that they may be used safely in this population.

Keywords: β2-agonists, β-blockers, β-blocker–β2-agonist combination, elderly COPD patients, cardiac function, mortality

Creative Commons License © 2013 The Author(s). This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License. By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.