Efficacy of β-blocker drugs in elderly patients with cardiovascular di sease

Objective To evaluate the effects and safety of atenolol,metoprolol and bisoprolol in eld erly patients with congestive heart failure.Method Sixty-two patients with CHF were randomly divided into atenolol group(n=20),metoprolol group(n=21)and bisoprolol group(n =21).Three groups were observed heart rate,blood pressure,cardiac function and ad verse reactions after treatment for 6 months,respectively.Results The range of changes of heart rates in metoprolol group was statistically less than the other two groups(P0.05); howe v er,there was no significant difference between the bisoprolol group and atenolo l group(P0.05).Conclusion Metoprolol,atenolol and bisoprolol all are beneficial for the treatment of chr onic congestive heart failure.The effect on decreasing HR of atenolol is equal to that of bisoprolol,which is much stronger than metoprolol.