A description of characteristics of very elderly patients newly diagnosed with heart failure : a retrospective population-based cohort study in Sweden

• Background and purpose: Over a quarter of patients with heart failure (HF) in Sweden are very elderly (defined as aged ≥85 years). Evidence on the demographic and clinical characteristics of these patients, and on the diagnostic procedures they receive in clinical practice, is scarce.Methods: Patients with HF were identified via electronic medical records from primary and/or secondary care in Västerbotten, linked via unique identifiers to data from the National Patient Register and Swedish Prescribed Drug Register. Local echocardiography data were used to identify patients with HF with preserved (HFpEF, ≥50%) and reduced (HFrEF, <50%) ejection fraction. Patients aged ≥18 years with ≥2 diagnoses of HF between 01/01/2010 and 31/03/2015 and an ICD-10 diagnostic code of I50 (inclusive of all granular codes), I42.0, I42.6, I42.7, I42.9, I110, I130 or I132 in any position were included. The date of the first diagnosis was the index date. ICD-10 codes were also used to identify comorbidities. A 10-year look-back period was used to exclude prevalent HF cases. Patient characteristics were assessed at index, except comorbidities (in the 5 years before index) and pre-diagnosis comedications (in the first year before index).Results: In total, 8702 patients with HF were identified; 27.7% were aged ≥85 years. Compared with patients <85 years, more patients ≥85 years were female (60.2% vs 40.6%) and fewer were overweight (BMI >25 kg/m2, 42.3% vs 63.5%). In both groups, HF was more commonly diagnosed in secondary than in primary care, but patients ≥85 years were more often diagnosed in primary care than those <85 years (31.2% vs 20.9%). Fewer patients ≥85 years than those <85 years received an echocardiogram at diagnosis (19.3% vs 42.9%); of those who did, more patients ≥85 years than <85 years had HFpEF (46.8% vs 33.4%). Patients ≥85 years had a comorbidity burden similar to those <85 years (mean number of comorbidities/patient, 2.4 vs 2.3); prevalence of atrial fibrillation (32.0% vs 30.4%), hypertension (53.2% vs 53.0%) and ischaemic heart disease (20.5% vs 22.5%) were also similar in both age groups. N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) levels and systolic blood pressure (BP) increased with age, and diastolic BP and estimated glomerular filtration rate decreased. Potassium and sodium levels did not differ between age groups (Table). The most common pre-diagnosis comedications were ?-blockers, antithrombotic agents and diuretics; ?-blockers were less frequently prescribed in patients ≥85 years (59.6% vs 64.4%), and antithrombotic agents and diuretics were more frequently prescribed in those ≥85 years (antithrombotic agents, 57.0% vs 54.3%; diuretics, 50.1% vs 43.1%).Conclusions: Very elderly patients with HF in Sweden are clinically different from younger patients, with a higher prevalence of HFpEF and higher NT-proBNP levels (as expected). Most importantly, very elderly patients seldom receive an echocardiogram at diagnosis.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa, socialmedicin och epidemiologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)