A real-world assessment of the burden associated with hospitalizations in US patients with heart failure and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) greater than 40%
Abstract Background and purpose Heart failure (HF) is one of the leading causes of hospitalization among older adults and is associated with a large burden of disease for the individual, the patient's family, healthcare systems, and society. This study assessed the burden of hospitalizations in patients with HF with LVEF >40% in the United States (US). Methods This retrospective, non-interventional study identified adult patients with incident or prevalent HF in Optum® de-identified Electronic Health Record (EHR) dataset (2007–2018) between 01/01/2013 and 31/12/2017. Optum's longitudinal EHR repository is derived from dozens of healthcare provider organizations in the US, that include more than 700 Hospitals and 7000 Clinics; treating >95 million patients receiving care in the US. Patients were followed for up to 1 year or until last active date whichever occurred first. Comorbidities, all-cause hospitalizations (AcH) and primary cause HF hospitalizations (HFH) were analysed. Results 120,606 patients with HF and LVEF >40% (54% female) with a mean (SD) age of 71 (13) yrs were included, representing 80,324.74 patient-yrs follow-up (days). Common comorbidities were hypertension (91.8%), ischemic heart disease (IHD, 71.4%), atrial fibrillation (AF, 54.8%), renal disease (54.1%), type 2 diabetes (T2D, 50.7%), obesity (44.6%) and anemia (39%). Comorbidities including IHD (72.9% vs. 68.4%), AF (56.4% vs. 51.6%) and T2D (51.1% vs. 49.9%) were more often recorded in patients with LVEF >40-≤60% than >60% cohort while hypertension (91.6% vs. 92.2%), renal disease (53.8% vs. 54.6%), obesity (43.9% vs. 46.1%) and anemia (38.1% vs. 40.9%) had significantly higher frequency in the LVEF >60% cohort. The annualized AcH rate for patients with LVEF>40% was 1.44 and annualized HFH rate was 0.24 with a median length of stay of 3 and 4 days, respectively. Annualized hospitalization rates were significantly higher for women than men (both AcH and HFH). AcH rates were significantly higher and HFH rates were significantly lower for patients with LVEF>60% compared with LVEF >40-≤60. Conclusions This study demonstrates that patients with HF and LVEF >40% experience significant burden from comorbidities and hospitalizations from any-cause and for HF. The hospitalization rates are higher in women (both AcH and HFH) or patients with LVEF >60% (AcH only). Further focus on reduction of hospitalizations and interdisciplinary management of patients with HF should be warranted. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: Private company. Main funding source(s): Novartis Pharma AG