Introduction:
There has been little focus on hospitalized acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) that develops after admission, which may occur because of comorbid conditions, over-administration of fluid or post-surgical complications.
Aims:
To compare patient characteristics, case fatality, and hospital length of stay (LOS) associated with ADHF that develops after hospital admission as compared to those with ADHF at admission.
Methods:
Hospitalizations with possible ADHF were sampled, based on HF ICD codes, among those aged > 55 years from the four communities of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (2005-2010). Medical records were abstracted with events classified by physician panel or computer classified. Case fatality was obtained through the National Death Index. We identified 4,503 (unweighted) events with definite/probable ADHF, after excluding those with unknown time of decompensation (n=81), hospital transfers (n=102), and race other than black or white (n=118). Demographic and clinical characteristics were compared by ADHF onset (at/after admission). Logistic regression was used to evaluate the association of ADHF onset with in-hospital mortality, and 28-days and one-year mortality, adjusted for demographics and comorbidity. Linear regression was used to evaluate the association of ADHF onset with log-transformed hospital LOS, adjusted for demographics. All analyses were weighted to account for the stratified sampling design.
Results:
Of 21,052 (weighted) ADHF events, 7.4% (n=1561) developed ADHF after admission. Patients with ADHF occurring after admission were older (mean: 79 vs. 75 years), and more likely white and female. Those with ADHF at admission were more likely to have a positive smoking history, COPD, and to be on dialysis. Presence of diabetes, hypertension and coronary artery disease were not significantly different between groups. In hospital mortality (16.5% vs. 6.3%; OR= 2.7, 95% CI=1.9-3.8) and 28-day mortality (23.9% vs. 10.1%; OR= 2.4, 95% CI=1.7-3.4) was higher among those who developed ADHF after admission. One-year case fatality was similar (39.4% vs. 33.6%; OR= 1.2, 95% CI=0.9-1.6). Unadjusted mean LOS was longer for those with ADHF occurring after admission (12.8 days, 95% CI=11.8-13.8) than those with ADHF at admission (7.2 days, 95% CI=6.8-7.6). The adjusted and geometric mean LOS was 1.3 days (95% CI=1.2-1.4) longer for those who developed ADHF after admission.
Conclusion:
Although patients with ADHF onset after admission were slightly older, differences in comorbidity do not indicate an easily identifiable subgroup for closer in-hospital monitoring. Development of ADHF after admission was associated with an alarmingly high early case fatality and longer hospital LOS compared to those with ADHF at hospital admission.
GEOGRAPHIC VARIATION IN HOSPITAL LENGTH OF STAY IS A PREDICTOR OF MORBIDITY BUT NOT MORTALITY IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEART FAILURE
