Abstract
Background: Guidelines are frequently under-implemented in older patients with heart failure. Octogenerians are often excluded from clinical trials. Objectives: To characterize the clinical profile of the oldestold (age ≥ 80 years) heart failure patients hospitalized in a subacute geriatric hospital and to evaluate their management and 1 year outcome. Methods: Patient characteristics and in-hospital course were retrospectively collected. Diagnosis of heart failure was based mainly on clinical evaluation in addition to chest X-ray results and echocardiographic findings when available. Results: The study population comprised 96 consecutive unselected heart failure patients hospitalized from January to June 2003. The patients were predominantly women (67%), aged 85 ± 5 years, fully dependent or frail with a high rate of comorbidities. Adherence to guidelines and use of recommended heart failure medications were poor. Their 1 year mortality was 57%. According to logistic regression analysis the predictor of lower 1 year mortality was higher body mass index (odds ratio 0.86, 95% confidence interval 0.78-0.96), and the predictor of higher 1 year mortality was high urea levels (OR 1.04, 95% CI 1.02-1.06). Conclusions: Our study confirms that the management of oldest-old heart failure patients hospitalized in a subacute geriatric hospital was suboptimal and their mortality was exceptionally high.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 483-488 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Israel Medical Association Journal |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| State | Published - Aug 2010 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Heart failure
- Mortality
- Oldest-old
- Prognosis