Medical breakthroughs in recent decades have allowed heart attack survivors and other heart disease patients to live longer. But as they decline into congestive heart failure (CHF), an increasing number will experience disability and the need for nursing home care.
A new study from the U-M Health System (UMHS) and the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System sheds light on the degree of disability among people with CHF, as well as the implications for the health care system, community care facilities, families and the patients themselves.
In particular, the study found that CHF patients were much more likely to be disabled than people without the condition. They also were found to have more difficulties with activities of daily living, such as grocery shopping and walking across the room. And they were more likely to require care from nursing homes and family members.
“The prevalence of congestive heart failure imposes a substantial burden on patients, families and the long-term care system,” says lead author Dr. Tanya Gure, a lecturer in the Division of Geriatric Medicine at UMHS.
The study appears in the January issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine. It is based on data from the 2000 data of the Health and Retirement Study, a national survey conducted by the Institute for Social Research and funded by the National Institute on Aging. Data in the new study are based on responses from 10,626 survey respondents ages 65 and older.
An estimated 5.3 million Americans currently have heart failure, according to the American Heart Association.
In addition to her appointment in the Division of Geriatric Medicine, Gure also was a member of the RWJ Clinical Scholars Program at U-M while working on this study.
Along with senior author Dr. Kenneth Langa, Gure is affiliated with the VA Center for Practice Management & Outcomes Research at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and the U-M Division of General Internal Medicine. Other authors of the paper are Mohammed Kabeto, of the U-M Division of General Internal Medicine; and Dr. Caroline Blaum, of the U-M Division of Geriatric Medicine and the VA Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center.
