AUTHOR=Yang Qilin , Kong Tianyu , Bao Ziping , Yang Shanshan , Chen Xiaohua , Zheng Jiezhao , Xiong Xuming , Wen Deliang , Zhang Zhenhui 

TITLE=Association between the β-blocker use and patients with sepsis: a cohort study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2023.1272871

DOI=10.3389/fmed.2023.1272871

ISSN=2296-858X

ABSTRACT=<sec id="sec1"><title>Objective</title><p>This study aimed to assess whether β-blockers are associated with mortality in patients with sepsis.</p></sec><sec id="sec2"><title>Method</title><p>We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients with sepsis using the Medical Information Market for Intensive Care (MIMIC)-IV and the emergency intensive care unit (eICU) databases. The primary outcome was the in-hospital mortality rate. The propensity score matching (PSM) method was adopted to reduce confounder bias. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were performed to test the stability of the conclusions.</p></sec><sec id="sec3"><title>Results</title><p>We included a total of 61,751 patients with sepsis, with an overall in-hospital mortality rate of 15.3% in MIMIC-IV and 13.6% in eICU. The inverse probability-weighting model showed that in-hospital mortality was significantly lower in the β-blockers group than in the non-β-blockers group [HR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.66–0.75, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001 in MIMIC-IV, and HR = 0.48, 95% CI: 0.45–0.52, <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001 in eICU]. In subgroups grouped according to sex, age, heart rate, APSIII, septic shock, and admission years, the results did not change.</p></sec><sec id="sec4"><title>Conclusion</title><p>β-blocker use is associated with lower in-hospital mortality in patients with sepsis, further randomized trials are required to confirm this association.</p></sec>