Table 1

Risk ratios for myocardial infarction among hypertensive patients treated with non-atenolol versus atenolol β-blockers

Number of studies

Mean Risk ratio

Median risk ratio

Credibility interval

Probability of risk ratio ≤ 0.90

2.5 – 97.5 %

5 – 95 %

Studies that only included comparison with non-β-blockers

8

0.836

0.828

0.633 – 1.078

0.664 – 1.031

0.836

Studies that only included comparison with placebo

6

0.918

0.906

0.711 – 1.172

0.734 – 1.125

0.475

All studies included

14

0.868

0.867

0.727 – 1.023

0.750 – 0.992

0.689

All studies except MRC Old atenolol versus other antihypertensive drugs

13

0.882

0.883

0.742 – 1.039

0.758 – 1.016

0.616

Four outputs with 100 000 iterations each of Monte Carlo sampling with a Bayesian method giving ratios of risks of myocardial infarctions in hypertensive patients using non-atenolol β-adrenergic blockers versus using atenolol, respectively, with data from studies involving non β-blocker drugs, studies with placebo groups and with data from both kinds of studies

Aursnes et al. BMC Clinical Pharmacology 2007 7:4   doi:10.1186/1472-6904-7-4