RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Rehospitalization for heart failure in the elderly
JF Saudi Medical Journal
JO Saudi Med J
FD Prince Sultan Military Medical City
SP 1144
OP 1147
DO 10.15537/smj.2016.10.15259
VO 37
IS 10
A1 Ehimwenma J. Ogbemudia
A1 John Asekhame
YR 2016
UL http://smj.org.sa/content/37/10/1144.abstract
AB Objectives: To determine the burden of preventable rehospitalization for decompensated heart failure in the elderly.Methods: This was a retrospective study performed in a Nigerian University Teaching Hospital,. Demographic variables, etiology, and participants of heart failure were retrieved from data of elderly patients with heart failure admitted between January 2014 and December 2015. The participants were classified and described as either preventable, or unpreventable to determine whether the hospitalizations were preventable or not. The frequency of the groups with preventable participants (hospitalization) was derived.Results: Five groups of participants were preventable (55.5%), while 4 groups (44.5%) were unpreventable. The preventable participants were poor drug compliance (24 [23.4%]), uncontrolled hypertension (7 [6.9%]), infectious (34 [33.3%]), pulmonary thromboembolism (1 [1%]), and anemia (1 [1%]). The unpreventable participants include arrhythmias (19 [18.6%]), acute kidney injury (2 [2%]), acute coronary syndrome (1 [1%]), and progressive ventricular dysfunction (13 [12.7%]).Conclusion: Multiple rehospitalization for heart failure is a challenge for the elderly, but 55.5% of these readmissions are preventable. Poor drug compliance and pulmonary infections were the most common preventable participants. Multidisciplinary measures involving patient education, home based care, and physician training will reduce the number of hospitalizations for heart failure in the elderly.