title: Medication underuse during long-term follow-up in patients with peripheral arterial disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Patients with peripheral arterial disease constitute a high-risk population. Guideline-recommended medical therapy use is therefore of utmost importance. The aims of our study were to establish the patterns of guideline-recommended medication use in patients with PAD at the time of vascular surgery and after 3 years of follow up, and to evaluate the effect of these therapies on long-term mortality in this patient group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Data on 711 consecutive patients with peripheral arterial disease undergoing vascular surgery were collected from 11 hospitals in the Netherlands (enrollment between May and December 2004). After 3.1+/-0.1 years of follow-up, information on medication use was obtained by a questionnaire (n=465; 84% response rate among survivors). Guideline-recommended medical therapy use for the combination of aspirin and statins in all patients and beta-blockers in patients with ischemic heart disease was 41% in the perioperative period. The use of perioperative evidence-based medication was associated with a reduction of 3-year mortality after adjustment for clinical characteristics (hazard ratio, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.45 to 0.94). After 3 years of follow-up, aspirin was used in 74%, statins in 69%, and beta-blockers in 54% of the patients respectively. Guideline-recommended medical therapy use for the combination of aspirin, statins, and beta-blockers was 50%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The use of guideline recommended therapies in the perioperative period was associated with reduction in long-term mortality in patients with peripheral arterial disease. However, the proportion of patients receiving these evidence-based treatments-both at baseline and 3 years after vascular surgery-was lower than expected based on the current guidelines. These data highlight a clear opportunity to improve the quality of care in this high-risk group of patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Sanne E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Hoeks
authors.forename: Wilma J M
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Scholte op Reimer
authors.forename: Yvette R B M
authors.initials: YR
authors.lastname: van Gestel
authors.forename: Olaf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Schouten
authors.forename: Mattie J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Lenzen
authors.forename: Willem-Jan
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Flu
authors.forename: Jan-Peter
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: van Kuijk
authors.forename: Corine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Latour
authors.forename: Jeroen J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Bax
authors.forename: Hero
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: van Urk
authors.forename: Don
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Poldermans
mesh_terms: D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000368:Aged; D001241:Aspirin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002317:Cardiovascular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017202:Myocardial Ischemia / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality; D016491:Peripheral Vascular Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality*; D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011379:Prognosis; D012042:Registries; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D000319:Adrenergic beta-Antagonists; D002317:Cardiovascular Agents; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors; D001241:Aspirin