Prevalence and associated factors of potentially inappropriate medications among Thai patients with heart failure

BACKGROUND: Several medications may worsen heart failure (HF), and they are considered as potentially inappropriate medications for patients with heart failure (PIMHF). No studies reported the prevalence of PIMHF use and its associated factors in Thai HF patients. OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of PIMHF use and identify factors associated with PIMHF use. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted using data on HF patients obtained from the electronic medical databases (EMDs) of two hospitals, including a secondary and a tertiary care hospital. Data collected included demographics, diagnoses and medications prescribed during 2016-2019. The prevalence of PIMHF use identified by the Thailand list of PIMHF was determined. Patient and clinical factors were examined whether they were associated with PIMHF use by calculating the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) using a binary logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: From the EMD, 972 and 2888 eligible HF patients from a secondary and a tertiary care hospital, respectively, were included in this study. The prevalence of PIMHF use was 45.16% and 33.07% at a secondary and a tertiary care hospital, respectively. Factors associated with PIMHF use were HFpEF (aOR = 1.68, 95% CI = 1.39-2.03), diabetes mellitus (DM) (aOR = 1.66, 95% CI = 1.35-2.05), renal failure (RF) (aOR = 1.49, 95% CI = 1.21-1.84), chronic pulmonary diseases (CPD) (aOR = 2.41, 95% CI = 1.74-3.34), connective tissue diseases (CTD) (aOR = 5.21, 95% CI = 2.17-12.49), and cancer (aOR = 2.57, 95% CI = 1.36-4.86). CONCLUSION: PIMHF use according to the Thailand list of PIMHF was prevalent in Thai HF patients and associated with HFpEF, DM, RF, CPD, CTD and cancer.