Background: Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a leading cause of cardiovascular mortality and hospitalization. Heart failure (HF) imposes both direct costs to healthcare systems and indirect costs to society through complications, unpaid care costs, premature mortality, and loss of productivity. The aim of the present study was to investigate the quality of care, laboratory and clinical indicators affecting mortality in heart failure patients.
Methods: In a descriptive study conducted in the summer of 1402, data were collected by extracting the list of patients who died with a diagnosis of heart failure from the hospital's information management system, based on random sampling, and recorded in a checklist. The number of patients selected was from a study of factors affecting mortality in heart failure patients at Shahid Mustafa Khomeini Hospital.
Results: 25.8% of patients had bilateral rales on pulmonary auscultation, and 88.7% of them reported shortness of breath, 58.1% edema, and 22.6% chest pain. LVEF of most patients was 10-25. With a decrease in systolic blood pressure and an increase in diastolic and HR, the probability of mortality increased significantly (1.058, 0.932, and 0.983) times, respectively. With a decrease in oxygen level, the probability of mortality increased significantly by 0.983 times. The mean ALT and AST increased significantly and the mean HCT also decreased significantly. With each unit increase in ALT and AST and each unit decrease in Hct, the probability of mortality increased (1.008, 0.985 and 1.283) times, respectively. With the decrease in Hb and FBS and the increase in Cr and BUN, the probability of mortality increased by 0.314, 1.013, 1.884 and 0.969 times, respectively. However, no significant relationship was observed between mortality and the factors Hb, FBS, Cr and BUN with patient mortality.
Conclusion: Dyspnea and edema were common in patients, and bilateral rales and chest pain were observed in less than half of the patients. A decrease in systolic blood pressure and an increase in diastolic and HR significantly increased the probability of mortality. A decrease in oxygen levels also significantly increased mortality in patients.