Referral for specialist follow-up and its association with post-discharge mortality among patients with systolic heart failure (from the National Heart Failure Audit for England and Wales)

Emdin, C. A. et al. (2017) Referral for specialist follow-up and its association with post-discharge mortality among patients with systolic heart failure (from the National Heart Failure Audit for England and Wales). American Journal of Cardiology, 119(3), pp. 440-444. (doi: 10.1016/j.amjcard.2016.10.021) (PMID:27884420) (PMCID:PMC5282396)

[img]
Preview
Text
131357.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives.

177kB

Abstract

For patients admitted with worsening heart failure, early follow-up after discharge is recommended. Whether outcomes can be improved when follow-up is done by cardiologists is uncertain. We aimed to determine the association between cardiology follow-up and risk of death for patients with heart failure discharged from hospital. Using data from the National Heart Failure Audit (England & Wales), we investigated the effect of referral to cardiology follow-up on 30-day and one-year mortality in 68 772 patients with heart failure and a reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (HFREF) discharged from 185 hospitals between 2007 to 2013. The primary analyses used instrumental variable analysis complemented by hierarchical logistic and propensity matched models. At the hospital level, rates of referral to cardiologists varied from 6% to 96%. The median odds ratio (OR) for referral to cardiologist was 2.3 (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.1, 2.5), suggesting that, on average, the odds of a patient being referred for cardiologist follow-up after discharge differed approximately 2.3 times from one randomly selected hospital to another one. Based on the proportion of patients (per region) referred for cardiology follow-up, referral for cardiology follow-up was associated with lower 30-day (OR 0.70; CI 0.55, 0.89) and one-year mortality (OR 0.81; CI 0.68, 0.95) compared with no plans for cardiology follow-up (i.e., standard follow-up done by family doctors). Results from hierarchical logistic models and propensity matched models were consistent (30-day mortality OR 0.66; CI 0.61, 0.72 and 0.66; CI 0.58, 0.76 for hierarchical and propensity matched models, respectively). For patients with HFREF admitted to hospital with worsening symptoms, referral to cardiology services for follow-up after discharge is strongly associated with reduced mortality, both early and late.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Woodward, Professor Mark and Cleland, Professor John and McMurray, Professor John and Dargie, Professor Henry
Authors: Emdin, C. A., Hsiao, A. J., Kiran, A., Conrad, N., Salimi-Khorshidi, G., Woodward, M., Anderson, S. G., Mohseni, H., McMurray, J. J.V., Cleland, J. G.F., Dargie, H., Hardman, S., McDonagh, T., and Rahimi, K.
Subjects:R Medicine > R Medicine (General)
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Health
College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Robertson Centre
Journal Name:American Journal of Cardiology
Publisher:Elsevier
ISSN:0002-9149
ISSN (Online):1879-1913
Published Online:01 November 2016

University Staff: Request a correction | Enlighten Editors: Update this record