An East-West comparison of self-care barriers in heart failure.

BACKGROUND: Barriers in heart failure self-care contribute to heart failure hospitalizations, but geographic differences have not been well-studied. We aimed to compare self-care barriers in heart failure patients managed at tertiary centers in an Eastern (Singapore) versus a Western (USA) nation. METHODS: Acute heart failure patients were prospectively assessed with a standardized instrument comprising of 47 distinct self-care barriers. The multi-equation generalized structural equation model was used to evaluate for geographic differences in barriers experienced, and association of barriers with outcomes. RESULTS: Patient-related factors accounted for six out of 10 most prevalent self-care barriers among the 90 patients, with a median number of 11 barriers reported per patient. The Western patients reported a higher level of barriers when compared with their Eastern counterparts (median (interquartile range) 15 (9-24) versus 9 (4-16), p=0.001), after adjusting for demographics and co-morbidities. Many of these differences could be explained by geographic differences between the countries. There was no significant difference identified in all-cause mortality (19.4% versus 10.2%) and heart failure re-hospitalization (41.9% versus 45.8%) at six months between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Self-care barriers are highly prevalent among acute heart failure patients, and differ substantially between East and West, but were not associated with geographic differences in outcomes.

The women's heart health programme: a pilot trial of sex-specific cardiovascular management.

BACKGROUND: There is increasing knowledge of sex-specific differences in cardiovascular disease and recognition of sex disparities in management. In our study, we investigated whether a cardiovascular programme tailored to the specific needs of women could lead to improved outcomes. METHODS: We randomised 100 female patients to receive cardiology follow-up with the conventional sex-neutral cardiac programme (control), or the sex-tailored Women's Heart Health Programme (intervention). The intervention group was managed by an all-women multidisciplinary team and received culture-centred health intervention workshops, designed through in-depth interviews with the participants. The primary outcome was cardiovascular risk factor improvement at 1 year. Secondary outcomes include cardiovascular event rates, quality of life scores, and self-reported improvement in knowledge, attitudes, intentions and practices. Generalised structural equation model analysis was used to determine if the intervention group had better outcomes at alpha level 0.1. RESULTS: The mean age was 67.3 ± 12.7 years, with an ethnic distribution of 70% Chinese, 18% Malays, and 12% Indians. The majority of these patients had no formal or primary level of education (63%), and were mostly unemployed (78%). Patients in intervention group had better control of diabetes mellitus (lower HbA1c of 0.63% [CI 0.21-1.04], p = 0.015) and lower body-mass-index (0.74 kg/m2 [CI 0.02-1.46], p = 0.092) at 1 year, but there was no significant difference in blood pressure or lipid control. Overall, there was a trend towards better risk factor control, 31.6% of intervention group versus 26.5% of control group achieved improvement in at least 1 CV risk factor control to target range. There was no significant difference in incidence of cardiovascular events, quality of life, or domains in knowledge, attitudes, intention and practices. CONCLUSION: This pilot study is the first of its kind evaluating a new model of care for women with heart disease. The potential to improve outcomes needs to be studied in a larger trial with longer follow up. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This trial was prospectively registered clinicaltrials.gov on 6 May 2013. Trial Number: 2013/00088. Identifier: NCT02017470.

Single-dose intravenous iron in Southeast Asian heart failure patients: A pilot randomized placebo-controlled study (PRACTICE-ASIA-HF).

AIMS: Iron deficiency is highly prevalent in Southeast Asians with heart failure (HF) and associated with worse outcomes. This trial aimed to assess the effect of intravenous iron in Southeast Asians hospitalized with decompensated HF. METHODS AND RESULTS: Fifty patients hospitalized for acute decompensated HF, regardless of ejection fraction, with iron deficiency (defined as serum ferritin <300 ng/mL if transferrin saturation is <20%) were randomized to receive either one dose of intravenous ferric carboxymaltose (FCM) 1000 mg or placebo (0.9% saline) following HF stabilization and before discharge in two Singapore tertiary centres. The primary endpoint was difference in 6-min walk test (6MWT) distance over 12 weeks, while secondary endpoints were quality of life assessed using validated Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ) and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Improvement in 6MWT distance at Week 12 was observed in both FCM and placebo groups (from 252 ± 123 to 334 ± 128 m and from 243 ± 67 to 301 ± 83 m, respectively). Unadjusted analysis showed 6MWT distance for FCM exceeded that for placebo, but adjustment for baseline covariates and time attenuated this effect {adjusted mean difference between groups: 0.88 m [95% confidence interval (CI) -30.2 to 32.0, P = 0.956]}. KCCQ overall summary and VAS were similar in both groups [adjusted mean difference: KCCQ -1.48 (95% CI -8.27 to 5.31, P = 0.670) and VAS 0.26 (95% CI -0.33 to 0.86, P = 0.386)]. FCM was well tolerated with no serious treatment-related adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Intravenous FCM administered pre-discharge in Southeast Asians hospitalized with decompensated HF is clinically feasible. Changes in 6MWT distance should be measured beyond Week 12 to account for background therapy effects.