Delayed hospital presentation in acute decompensated heart failure: Clinical and patient reported factors
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Authors
Darling, Chad E.Saczynski, Jane S.
McManus, David D.
Lessard, Darleen M.
Spencer, Frederick A.
Goldberg, Robert J.
UMass Chan Affiliations
Meyers Primary Care InstituteDepartment of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine
Department of Quantitative Health Sciences
Department of Emergency Medicine
Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatric Medicine
Document Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2013-07-01Keywords
UMCCTS fundingCardiology
Cardiovascular Diseases
Health Services Administration
Health Services Research
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BACKGROUND: Patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) often wait a considerable amount of time before going to the hospital. Prior studies have examined the reasons why such delays may occur, but additional studies are needed to identify modifiable factors contributing to these delays. PURPOSE: To describe care-seeking delay times, factors associated with prolonged delay, and patient's thoughts and actions in adult men and women hospitalized with ADHF. METHODS: We surveyed 1271 patients hospitalized with ADHF at 8 urban medical centers between 2007 and 2010. RESULTS: The average age of our study population was 73 years, 47% were female, and 72% had prior heart failure. The median duration of pre-hospital delay prior to hospital presentation was 5.3 h. Patients who delayed longer than the median were older, more likely to have diabetes, peripheral edema, to have symptoms that began in the afternoon, and to have contacted their medical provider(s) about their symptoms. Prolonged care seekers were less likely to have attributed their symptoms to ADHF, less likely to want to have bothered their doctor or family, and were more likely to be concerned about missing work due to their illness (all p values < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Care-seeking delays are common among patients with ADHF. A variety of factors contribute to these delays, which in some cases may represent efforts to manage ADHF symptoms at home. More research is needed to better understand the detrimental effects of these delays and how best to encourage timely care-seeking behavior in the setting of ADHF.Source
Darling C, Saczynski JS, McManus DD, Lessard D, Spencer FA, Goldberg RJ. Delayed hospital presentation in acute decompensated heart failure: clinical and patient reported factors. Heart Lung. 2013 Jul-Aug;42(4):281-6. doi: 10.1016/j.hrtlng.2013.01.007. Link to article on publisher's site
DOI
10.1016/j.hrtlng.2013.01.007Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/46615PubMed ID
23474108Related Resources
ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1016/j.hrtlng.2013.01.007