Key result
Atenolol systematic review provides no clinical data as the text is a software tutorial.
Why the study?
Atenolol is widely used for hypertension, but its indication as first-line therapy remains controversial.
Does atenolol reduce major cardiovascular events compared to other first-line antihypertensive drugs in adults with primary hypertension?
Does atenolol reduce major cardiovascular events compared to other first-line antihypertensive drugs in adults with primary hypertension?
Atenolol provides comparable blood pressure reduction to other first-line agents but is associated with a slightly higher incidence of cardiovascular events, supporting its use primarily as combination therapy rather than first-line monotherapy.
No data here informs atenolol use in hypertension; leaves open its comparative event reduction versus other agents.
Background Hypertension (HTN) is a global public health issue, with high prevalence and a significant impact on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Cardioselective beta-blockers, such as atenolol, are widely used in the treatment of HTN, although their indication as first-line therapy remains controversial. Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of atenolol in the treatment of primary HTN, compared with other first-line classes of antihypertensive drugs. Methods A systematic review was conducted based on a research question structured using the PICO format. Randomized clinical trials comparing atenolol with other antihypertensive agents were included. Searches were performed in three international databases. Methodological quality was assessed using the RoB 2 tool, and the certainty of evidence was rated using the GRADE system. The primary composite outcome was the occurrence of major cardiovascular events. Secondary outcomes included all-cause mortality, acute myocardial infarction, and stroke, each analyzed separately. Results Seven clinical trials met the inclusion criteria. Compared with amlodipine and losartan, atenolol was associated with a slightly higher incidence of cardiovascular events, with low and moderate certainty of evidence, respectively. The combination of hydrochlorothiazide and amiloride demonstrated a greater reduction in cardiovascular events compared to atenolol, although with very low certainty of evidence. Blood pressure (BP) reduction was similar across the compared treatments. Conclusions Despite the limitations of available evidence, atenolol showed comparable efficacy in BP reduction, with small differences in cardiovascular outcomes favoring other antihypertensive classes. Its use may be considered among the options for combination therapy in the treatment of primary HTN in adults. Other beta-blockers were not evaluated in this systematic review.
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Brandão et al. (2025) studied this question. The provided document contains no clinical data, as the text is a tutorial on screencast software rather than the systematic review on atenolol suggested by the title.
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