Heart Failure Patients in Two Countries Compared

MONDAY, Nov. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Heart failure patients in the United States have better short-term survival rates than Canadian patients, but long-term survival rates are similar for patients in both countries.

That''s the finding of a University of Toronto study in the Nov. 28 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Researchers compared outcomes in over 28,500 U.S. Medicare heart failure patients to more than 8,000 heart failure patients in the province of Ontario.

"More U.S. patients underwent left ventricular ejection fraction assessment (a test to evaluate the pumping action of the lower chambers of the heart) during hospitalization compared with Canadian patients (61.2 percent vs. 41.7 percent)," the study authors wrote.

They also analyzed the use of medications commonly prescribed for heart patients.

"At discharge, patients in the United States were prescribed beta blockers more frequently (28.7 percent vs. 25.4 percent) but angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors less frequently (54.3 percent vs. 63.4 percent)," the authors wrote.

The death rate at 30 days was 8.9 percent for U.S. heart failure patients, compared with 10.7 percent for Canadian patients. At one year, the death rates were similar -- 32.2 percent and 32.3 percent, respectively.

"In conclusion, we found that HF patients hospitalized in the United States had significantly better short-term mortality but equivalent long-term mortality compared with a sample of HF patients hospitalized in Canada," the authors wrote.

"Further studies are needed to explore the reasons underlying this difference in outcomes and to gain additional insights to improve the care and outcomes of HF patients in both countries."

More information

The American Heart Association has more about heart failure.

-- Robert Preidt

SOURCE: JAMA/Archives journals, news release, Nov. 28, 2005

Last Updated: Nov. 28, 2005