Medication use at baseline of patients aged 65 years and older who died with heart failure, including those who received collaborative home-based palliative care and those who received usual care
| Medication | No. (%) of patients | Standardized difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Usual care n = 1153 | Collaborative home-based palliative care n = 243 | ||
| ACE inhibitor or ARB | 640 (55.5) | 134 (55.1) | 0.01 |
| Antiarrhythmic | 92 (8.0) | 33 (13.6) | 0.18 |
| Antithrombotic | |||
| Antiplatelet | 202 (17.5) | 45 (18.5) | 0.02 |
| Anticoagulant | 573 (49.7) | 149 (61.3) | 0.23 |
| β-blocker | 704 (61.1) | 178 (73.3) | 0.27 |
| Cholesterol lowering | |||
| Ezetimibe | 50 (4.3) | 8 (3.3) | 0.05 |
| Statin | 675 (58.5) | 150 (61.7) | 0.06 |
| Digoxin | 149 (12.9) | 52 (21.4) | 0.23 |
| Diuretic (loop) | |||
| Furosemide | 857 (74.3) | 234 (96.3) | 0.64 |
| Metolazone | 88 (7.6) | 74 (30.5) | 0.61 |
| MRA | 167 (14.5) | 90 (37.0) | 0.53 |
| Opioid | 541 (46.9) | 154 (63.4) | 0.33 |
| Other antihypertensive | |||
| Calcium channel blocker | 409 (35.5) | 78 (32.1) | 0.06 |
| Thiazide | 119 (10.3) | 26 (10.7) | 0.02 |
Note: ACE = angiotensin-converting enzyme, ARB = angiotensin receptor blockers, MRA = mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist.