Functional disability tied to hospitalization, mortality in heart failure

Heart failure patients who reported difficulty performing everyday tasks were more likely to be hospitalized and to die early, reported Dr. Shannon M. Dunlay and associates from the Mayo Clinic.

^{American Heart Association}

In a cohort study of 1,128 Minnesota adults aged 20 years or older, nearly 60% reported having difficulty with at least one daily activity such as eating, dressing, using the toilet, housekeeping, climbing stairs, bathing, walking, using transportation, and managing medications. Patients with severe or worsening difficulty at follow-up were at significantly increased risk for readmission (hazard ratio, 1.51) and death (HR, 2.10), the investigators reported.

These results “provide new insight into the burden of functional disability in patients with” heart failure, Dr. Dunlay and her associates wrote.

Read the full article at Circulation Heart Failure (2015 Feb. 25 [doi:10.1161/CIRCHEARTFAILURE.114.001542]).