Association between glucocorticoid use and all-cause mortality in critically ill patients with heart failure: A cohort study based on the MIMIC-III database

Jia-Liang Zhu; Liang Hong; Shi-Qi Yuan; Xiao-Mei Xu; Jian-Rui Wei; Hai-Yan Yin

doi:10.3389/fphar.2023.1118551

Association between glucocorticoid use and all-cause mortality in critically ill patients with heart failure: A cohort study based on the MIMIC-III database

Front Pharmacol. 2023 Jan 12:14:1118551. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1118551. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Jia-Liang Zhu^{1

2}, Liang Hong³, Shi-Qi Yuan⁴, Xiao-Mei Xu^{1

2}, Jian-Rui Wei², Hai-Yan Yin¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Intensive Care Unit, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
² Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
³ Department of Intensive Care Unit, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
⁴ Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.

Abstract

Background: Heart failure (HF) is the terminal stage of various heart diseases. Conventional treatments have poor efficacy, and diuretic resistance can present. Previous studies have found that the use of glucocorticoids can enhance the diuretic effect of patients with heart failure and reduce heart failure symptoms. However, the relationship between glucocorticoid use and mortality in patients with heart failure in intensive care units is unclear. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the association between glucocorticoid use and all-cause mortality in critically ill patients with heart failure. Methods: The information on patients with heart failure in this study was extracted from the MIMIC-III (Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care-III) database. Patients in the glucocorticoid and non-glucocorticoid groups were matched using propensity scores. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to explore the difference in survival probability between the two groups. A Cox proportional-hazards regression model was used to analyze the hazard ratios (HRs) for the two patient groups. Subgroup analyses were performed with prespecified stratification variables to demonstrate the robustness of the results. Results: The study included 9,482 patients: 2,099 in the glucocorticoid group and 7,383 in the non-glucocorticoid group. There were 2,055 patients in each group after propensity-score matching. The results indicated that the non-glucocorticoid group was not significantly associated with reduced mortality in patients with heart failure during the 14-day follow-up period [HRs = .901, 95% confidence interval (CI) = .767-1.059]. During the follow-up periods of 15-30 and 15-90 days, the mortality risk was significantly lower in the non-glucocorticoid group than in the glucocorticoid group (HRs = .497 and 95% CI = .370-.668, and HRs = .400 and 95% CI = .310-.517, respectively). Subgroup analyses indicated no interaction among each stratification variable and glucocorticoid use. Conclusion: Glucocorticoid use was associated with an increased mortality risk in critically ill patients with heart failure.

Keywords: MIMIC-III database; all-cause mortality; glucocorticoids; heart failure; retrospective cohort study.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos 82072232; 81871585); Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou, China (No. 202201020028); Special Projects in Key Areas of General Colleges and Universities in Guangdong Province (No. 2022ZDZX 2003); The 2021 Annual Medical Teaching and Education Management Reform Research Project of Jinan University (No. 2021YXJG029).