(HealthDay News) – Persistent use of antihypertensive treatments is greater with the new generation of beta-blockers, compared to atenolol, according to a study published in Cardiovascular Therapeutics.
Yun Jung Choi, from Hanyang University in South Korea, and colleagues analyzed persistent use of antihypertensive medications among 9978 patients (≥18 years) with newly diagnosed hypertension in 2012. The participants were without hypertension-related complication and had initiated treatment with beta-blocker monotherapy.
The researchers found that the rate of treatment persistence was higher in the non-atenolol group (P<.0001), and time to treatment discontinuation was earlier in the atenolol group (P<.0001). Compared to atenolol, new generation beta-blockers demonstrated a lower risk of treatment discontinuation (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.91), with notable improvement seen with carvedilol and nebivolol (HRs: 0.74 and 0.79, respectively). Betaxolol showed a substantially greater hazard for discontinuation versus atenolol.
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“This study demonstrated meaningful improvement in treatment persistence with new generation beta-blockers compared to atenolol, with betaxolol as exception,” the authors write.
