ABSTRACT
Objective: The social determinants of health (SDoH) account for 80%-90% of modifiable contributors to health outcomes for chronic diseases such as heart failure. Knowledge gaps exist on how SDoH influences hospitalization rates in women with heart failure. Our aim was to evaluate the relationship between the baseline SDoH status of women with heart failure with subsequent all-cause and cardiovascular hospitalization. Methods: This is a prospective observational longitudinal cohort study of women diagnosed with heart failure with 6-month follow-up. The subjects completed SDoH assessment by the Institute of Medicine. Monthly follow-ups were performed to assess for hospitalization events. Results: A total of 92 patients with at least 1 follow-up clinic visit were included. The mean age was 66 ± 15 years and 80% had nonischemic cardiomyopathy as the etiology of heart failure. New York Heart Association (NYHA) Classifications I-II were the most common (n = 66, 71.8%). In total, 51 patients (55.4%) had overall high-risk SDoH (4 or more SDoH domains at risk). By the 6-month follow-up, 22 (23.9%) patients were hospitalized for any cause; 8 patients (8.7%) were hospitalized for cardiovascular causes. There were no deaths. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, the high-risk SDoH group had a higher odds ratio for all-cause hospitalization (OR 5.31, 95% CI 1.59-17.73). In addition, Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire 12-item (KCCQ-12) scores, surrogate for quality of life, were worse in the high-risk SDoH group. Conclusion: SDoH adversely impacts hospitalizations and quality of life in women with heart failure. Future efforts for screening and interventions should evaluate the SDoH at all levels, including the individual health care provider, institutional, and national levels.
ABSTRACT
We postulate that the trends for infective endocarditis (IE) are different for patients admitted for this condition compared with those admitted for a different reason with IE as a secondary diagnosis. Using the Myocardial Infarction Data Acquisition System (MIDAS) database, we analyzed 21,443 records of patients hospitalized with diagnosis of IE from 1994 to 2015. There were 9,191 patients hospitalized with IE as the primary diagnosis, and 12,252 patients with IE as a secondary diagnosis. Piecewise linear models were used to detect changes in trends. A bootstrap method was used to assess the statistical significance of the slopes and break point of each model. Differences in co-morbidities and microbiological patterns were analyzed. Trend analysis showed a significant decrease in IE as the primary diagnosis starting in the year 2004 (p <0.01). Hospitalizations with IE as a secondary diagnosis showed a linear increase in incidence (p <0.001), without any change points. In primary diagnosis IE, the proportion of streptococci as a causative microorganism was higher compared with staphylococci (p <0.001). On the contrary, in secondary diagnosis IE, the proportion of staphylococci was higher than streptococci (p <0.001). The proportion of gram-negative and other organism IE was similar in both groups. In conclusion, this study showed 2 divergent temporal trends in hospitalizations for IE as a primary or secondary diagnosis starting in 2004. The profile of the microorganisms reveals a steady higher proportion of staphylococcal infection in secondary diagnosis IE compared with streptococcal infection. Different strategies are needed for the prevention of IE.
