What Researchers Did
Researchers audited patients admitted to hospitals in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory with acute heart failure to see who they were and how they were treated.
What They Found
This was a prospective audit of 811 patients across 24 hospitals in NSW and the ACT, finding that patients were generally elderly and frail, with a mean age of 77 and 71% assessed as frail. Fifty-eight percent were men, and 42% had a left ventricular ejection fraction of 50% or higher. The most common precipitants of heart failure were intercurrent infection (22%), atrial fibrillation or flutter (15%), non-adherence to dietary or fluid restrictions (16%), and non-adherence to prescribed medication (5%). Initial treatment included intravenous diuretics (81%) and oxygen therapy (87%). During the admission, 6% of patients died, and median length of stay was 6 days, ranging from 3 to 12 days depending on the hospital. Just over half (59%) were referred to a multidisciplinary heart failure service.
Canadian Relevance
No direct Canadian connection identified. This study was conducted in Australian hospitals.
Study Limitations
This was an observational, single-month snapshot audit without a comparison group, so it can describe patterns of care but cannot establish cause and effect, and findings may not generalize beyond the hospitals and time period studied.