Use of Diuretics in the Treatment of Heart Failure in Older Adults

Sex differences in the prognostic impact of coexisting atrial fibrillation (AF) in older patients with heart failure (HF) have not been well-studied. This study, therefore, compared sex differences in the association between AF and its 90-day adverse outcomes (hospital readmissions and emergency room (ER) visits) among older adults with HF. Of the 250 older adult patients, the prevalence rates of coexisting AF between male and female HF patients were 46.0% and 31.0%, respectively. In both male and female older patients, patients with AF have a significantly higher readmission rate (male 46.0%, and female 34.3%) than those without AF (male 6.8%, and female 12.8%). However, there are no significant differences in the association between AF and ER visits in both male and female older HF patients. The multivariate logistic analysis showed that coexisting AF significantly increased the risk of 90-day hospital readmission in both male and female older patients. In addition, older age in males and longer periods of time after an HF diagnosis in females were associated with an increased risk of hospital readmission. Consequently, prospective cohort studies are needed to identify the impact of coexisting AF on short- and long-term outcomes in older adult HF patients by sex.

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Lower-Extremity Function as a Marker of Frailty and Outcomes of Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction in Older Adults

Journal of Cardiac Failure ◽

10.1016/j.cardfail.2018.11.002 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 25 (1) ◽

pp. 10-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Dae Hyun Kim ◽

Sandra M. Shi

Keyword(s):

Heart Failure ◽

Older Adults ◽

Ejection Fraction ◽

Lower Extremity ◽

Preserved Ejection Fraction ◽

Lower Extremity Function ◽

Extremity Function

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Frailty and Advanced Heart Failure in Older Adults

Current Cardiovascular Risk Reports ◽

10.1007/s12170-017-0539-4 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Jennifer R. Riggs ◽

Alex Reyentovich ◽

Mathew S. Maurer ◽

John A. Dodson

Keyword(s):

Heart Failure ◽

Older Adults ◽

Advanced Heart Failure

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Modeling Personas for Older Adults with Heart Failure

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting ◽

10.1177/1541931218621246 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 62 (1) ◽

pp. 1072-1076 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Richard J. Holden ◽

Pushkar Joshi ◽

Kartik Rao ◽

Anagha Varrier ◽

Carly N. Daley ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heart Failure ◽

Older Adults ◽

Information Needs ◽

Self Care ◽

Chronically Ill ◽

User Centered Design ◽

Future Design ◽

Patients With Heart Failure ◽

Design Activities ◽

Key Dimensions

In the early stages of the design process, designers often benefit from the use of personas, or archetypes of target users presented in a vivid way to highlight design-relevant characteristics. In the growing efforts to create health information technology (HIT) for older adults, empirically derived personas could help orchestrate more user-centered design activities. However, there is a lack of ready-to-use personas for older adult HIT users and more so for those designing in specific domains such as heart failure self-care. This paper presents personas of older adults derived from qualitative analysis of interviews with 24 older patients with heart failure. Analyses unearthed key dimensions distinguishing patients based on their dispositions towards the self-management of their chronic condition, including locus of control, relationship with the health/support system, information needs, and activities of self-care. Two personas are presented: Direction Follower and Researcher, with subtypes for the latter codified as Investigator and Explorer. Our work contributes to future design of systems including HIT to support chronically ill older adults.

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