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Self‐rated health and mortality in patients with chronic heart failure
Author(s) -
Farkas Jerneja,
Nabb Samantha,
ZaletelKragelj Lijana,
Cleland John G.F.,
Lainscak Mitja
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
european journal of heart failure
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.149
H-Index - 133
eISSN - 1879-0844
pISSN - 1388-9842
DOI - 10.1093/eurjhf/hfp038
Subject(s) - medicine , heart failure , hazard ratio , proportional hazards model , ejection fraction , prospective cohort study , self rated health , cardiology , emergency medicine , gerontology , confidence interval
Aims In patients with chronic heart failure (CHF), there is limited information on self‐rated health (SRH). We aimed to examine the distribution of SRH and whether SRH is associated with mortality in patients with stable CHF. Methods and results We enrolled 100 patients (71 ± 11 years, 54% men, left ventricular ejection fraction 47 ± 11%) in a prospective study with 48 months of follow‐up. Self‐rated health was assessed using a seven‐grade descriptive scale: very good, good, quite good, average, quite poor, poor , and very poor . Median SRH was quite poor and the most frequent SRH (31 patients) was average . During an average follow‐up of 1005 ± 507 days, 58 patients died. More patients in the group that rated their health as quite poor or worse died (70% vs. 43%, P = 0.008). In a Cox proportional hazard model, SRH as a seven‐grade descriptive scale [hazard ratios (HR) 1.39, 95% CI 1.10–1.74] or as a median value (HR 2.13, 95% CI 1.23–3.69) predicted mortality. The association remained significant after adjustment for patient characteristics and biomarkers ( P < 0.05 for both). Conclusion In patients with stable CHF, SRH independently predicts mortality. This suggests that SRH could be used in everyday clinical practice to obtain important prognostic information beyond clinical examination and laboratory work‐up.