Evaluation of Prescribing Adherence to Guideline-Directed Medical
Therapy in Patients with Chronic Heart Failure. A Retrospective Study at
The National Heart Centre in Oman
Abstract
Purpose: Guidelines-directed medical therapy (GDMT) may benefit
patients with heart failure (HF) reduced ejection fraction ((HFrEF,
≤40%), however, there are significant gaps between guidelines and
real-world practices. The aim of this study was to evaluated prescribing
adherence to the recommended GDMT in HFrEF patients using the global
guideline adherence score. Method: A retrospective study among
HFrEF patients at the National Heart Centre in Muscat, Oman, was
conducted between 1st January and 30th June 2022. The optimum target
doses were identified according to the 2021 European Society of
Cardiology HF guidelines. Thus, for eligible patients, prescribing all
indicated GDMT in doses ≥50% of the target dose is considered good
adherence; the use of more than half of the medications in doses ≥50%
of the target dose, moderate adherence; and the use of less than half
the recommended medications and/or in doses <50% of target
dose, poor adherence. Univariate statistics were used for the analysis.
Results: The overall mean age of the cohort was 57 ±13.6 years
with a predominance of male patients (70%; n=180). The overall
prescribing adherence to guideline-recommended HF medications was 71%
good, 22% moderate, and 7% poor. There was a significate association
between the sub-optimal dose of GDMT and patients with hypertension
(P=0.004), dilated cardiomyopathy (P=0.015), older age (P=0.004) and
chronic kidney disease (P=0.001). Conclusion: Prescribing
adherence to recommended GDMT in Oman is similar to that of
international studies. Furthermore, sub-optimal GDMT titration was
significantly associated with older age and comorbidity, suggesting that
frailty perception may have an impact on GDMT titration.