Digoxin, Beta-Blockers Have Equivalent Effects on Heart Rate in A-Fib
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, July 23, 2024 -- For patients with atrial fibrillation, digoxin and beta-blockers have equivalent effects on heart rate at rest and on exertion, according to a study published online July 15 in Nature Medicine.
Simrat K. Gill, from the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, and colleagues compared heart rate in older, multimorbid patients with permanent atrial fibrillation and heart failure who were randomly allocated to receive digoxin or beta-blockers. In 53 participants, heart rate and physical activity intervals were obtained using a wrist-worn wearable linked to a smartphone for 20 weeks.
The researchers found that there was no significant difference in heart rates for those treated with digoxin versus beta-blockers. After accounting for physical activity or patients with high-activity levels, there was no difference in heart rate between the groups. Wearable device data could predict New York Heart Association functional class five months after baseline assessment similarly to standard clinical measures of electrocardiographic heart rate and six-minute walk test using a convolutional neural network designed to account for missing data.
"A neural network model of wearable sensor data showed similar performance for predicting future health status as conventional measures used in clinical trials," the authors write.
Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted July 2024
Read this next
Large Geographic Variation Seen With Heart Failure Phenotypes
THURSDAY, July 18, 2024 -- There is substantial geographic variation in patient characteristics, treatment, and outcomes among patients with heart failure with preserved ejection...
Pulsed Field Ablation Demonstrates Favorable Safety Profile for A-Fib
THURSDAY, July 11, 2024 -- For patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), pulsed field ablation (PFA) demonstrates a favorable safety profile, according to a study published online...
Study Compares Rivaroxaban, Warfarin With Apixaban for Cirrhosis, A-Fib
MONDAY, July 8, 2024 -- For patients with cirrhosis and nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF), initiators of rivaroxaban or warfarin versus apixaban have significantly higher rates...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.