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- Agvall, Björn, 1963-, et al.
(författare)
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Cost of heart failure in Swedish primary healthcare
- 2005
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0281-3432 .- 1502-7724. ; 23, s. 227-232
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives. To calculate the cost for patients with heart failure (HF) in a primary healthcare setting. Design. Retrospective study of all available patient data during a period of one year. Setting. Two healthcare centers in Linköping in the southeastern region of Sweden, covering a population of 19 400 inhabitants. Subjects. A total of 115 patients with a diagnosis of HF. Main outcome measures. The healthcare costs for patients with HF and the healthcare utilization concerning hospital days and visits to doctors and nurses in hospital care and primary healthcare. Results. The mean annual cost for a patient with HF was SEK 37 100. There were no significant differences in cost between gender, age, New York Heart Association functional class, and cardiac function. The distribution of cost was 47% for hospital care, 22% for primary healthcare, 18% for medication, 5% for nursing home, and 6% for examinations. Conclusion. Hospital care accounts for the largest cost but the cost in primary healthcare is larger than previously shown. The total annual cost for patients with HF in Sweden is in the range of SEK 5.0–6.7 billion according to this calculation, which is higher than previously known.Read More: http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02813430500197647
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| 2. |
- Ahlström, Christer, 1977-, et al.
(författare)
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Assessment of Suspected Aortic Stenosis by Auto Mutual Information Analysis of Murmurs
- 2007
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Ingår i: Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 2007. EMBS 2007. - 9781424407873 ; , s. 1945-1948
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mild sclerotic thickening of the aortic valve affects 25% of the population, and the condition causes aortic valve stenosis (AS) in 2% of adults above 65 years. Echocardiography is today the clinical standard for assessing AS. However, a cost effective and uncomplicated technique that can be used for decision support in the primary health care would be of great value. In this study, recorded phonocardiographic signals were analyzed using the first local minimum of the auto mutual information (AMI) function. The AMI method measures the complexity in the sound signal, which is related to the amount of turbulence in the blood flow and thus to the severity of the stenosis. Two previously developed phonocardiographic methods for assessing AS severity were used for comparison, the murmur energy ratio and the sound spectral averaging technique. Twenty-nine patients with suspected AS were examined with Doppler echocardiography. The aortic jet velocity was used as a reference of AS severity, and it was found to correlate with the AMI method, the murmur energy ratio and the sound spectral averaging technique with the correlation coefficient R = 0.82, R = 0.73 and R = 0.76, respectively.
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| 4. |
- Alehagen, Urban, 1951-, et al.
(författare)
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Reference intervals and decision limits for B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and its precursor (Nt-proBNP) in the elderly
- 2007
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Ingår i: Clinica Chimica Acta. - : Elsevier BV. - 0009-8981 .- 1873-3492. ; 382:1-2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Elderly patients have the highest prevalence of heart failure (HF). The aims of the study were to establish a reference interval for B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and (Nt-proBNP) in elderly people, and to identify clinically relevant decision limits based on long-term outcome. Methods: Plasma concentrations of BNP and Nt-proBNP were measured from two elderly populations: 218 healthy subjects (mean age 73 years, population I), and 474 patients (mean age 73 years, population II) with symptoms associated with HF. Study population II was followed for 6 years with registration of all cardiovascular mortality. Results: An association between both BNP and Nt-proBNP concentrations and age was found. The upper limit for the reference intervals in the healthy elderly (population I) was: BNP ≤ 28 pmol/L (≤ 97 ng/L), and Nt-proBNP ≤ 64 pmol/L (≤ 540 ng/L). Based on cardiovascular mortality, decision limits for BNP (∼ 50 pmol/L, ∼ 170 ng/L) and Nt-proBNP (∼ 200 pmol/L, ∼ 1700 ng/L) (population II) were determined. Conclusions: Besides establishing reference intervals for BNP and Nt-proBNP in an elderly population, a higher clinically relevant decision limit for BNP and Nt-proBNP was identified, indicating additive prognostic information of the peptides on top of measurements by echocardiography. Therefore, both reference intervals and decision limits should be included in clinical practice. © 2007.
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| 8. |
- Broström, Anders, 1963-, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of Long-term Nocturnal Oxygen Treatment in Patients With Severe Heart Failure
- 2005
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Ingår i: Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. - Philadelphia : Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. - 0889-4655 .- 1550-5049. ; 20:6, s. 385-395
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is common in patients with heart failure (HF) and leads to disturbed sleep. The objective of this study was to determine the persistent effects of long-term nocturnal oxygen treatment in patients with severe HF regarding (1) objective outcomes, such as steep. SDB, cardiac function, and functional capacity; (2) subjective outcomes, such as self-assessed sleep difficulties, daytime sleepiness, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL); and (3) the relationship between objective and subjective outcomes. In this open nonrandomized experimental study, 22 patients, median age 71 years, with severe HF were studied before and after 3 months of receiving nocturnal oxygen. The measures used were overnight polysomnography, echocardiography, 6-minute walk test, self-assessed sleep difficulties (Uppsala Sleep Inventory-HF), daytime sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale), and HRQOL (36-ltem Short Form Health Survey and Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire). SDB, with a 90% dominance of central sleep apnea, occurred in 41 % of the patients with severe HF before intervention. After intervention, functional capacity improved for both the whole group of patients with HF (P < .01) and HF patients with SDB (P < .05). No improvements regarding cardiac function, objective sleep, subjective sleep, or SDB were seen, except for a decrease of ‚â•4% desaturations (P < 05). HRQOL did not differ significantly between HF patients with and without SDB before or after intervention with nocturnal oxygen. Long-term nocturnal oxygen treatment improved functional capacity in patients with severe HF, with or without SDB. No improvements were seen regarding sleep, daytime sleepiness, SDB, cardiac function, or HRQOL.
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| 9. |
- Dahlström, Ulf, 1946-
(författare)
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Frequent non-cardiac comorbidities in patients with chronic heart failure
- 2005
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Ingår i: European Journal of Heart Failure. - : Wiley. - 1388-9842 .- 1879-0844. ; 7:3 SPEC. ISS., s. 309-316
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Heart failure (HF) in elderly patients is associated with more diffuse symptoms and signs due to the presence of other noncardiac comorbidities. This can cause difficulties in assessing the correct diagnosis and initiating appropriate therapy. The four most frequently occurring noncardiac comorbidities and therapies used to treat them are discussed in the present paper. Hypertension is an important precursor of HF, and is still the most common risk factor for HF in the general population. About 50% of patients with untreated hypertension will develop HF. Pressure overload leads to the development of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and diastolic dysfunction. Diabetes, which occurs in about 20-30% of patients with HF, is an important comorbidity resulting in morphological and metabolic disturbances affecting myocardial blood flow and hormonal regulation leading to a poor outcome and necessitating aggressive conventional treatment. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), occurs in approximately 20-30% of heart failure patients, and may complicate HF treatment, it is therefore important to recognize and treat it effectively. Finally, the early detection of anemia, which occurs in 20-30% of HF patients, is important since it is associated with functional impairment and increased mortality and morbidity. Combined treatment with erythropoietin and intravenous iron has shown beneficial effects on clinical symptoms and morbidity. In conclusion early detection of concomitant diseases in patients with HF is important and should be considered carefully when initiating therapy. © 2005 European Society of Cardiology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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