Anatol J Cardiol. 2019 May; 21(4): 196–205.
Published online 2019 Mar 1. doi: 10.14744/AnatolJCardiol.2018.94556
PMCID: PMC6528498
PMID: 30930455
Demographics of patients with heart failure who were over 80 years old and were admitted to the cardiology clinics in Turkey
Gülay Gök, Mehdi Zoghi,1 Ümit Yaşar Sinan,2 Salih Kılıç,1 and Lale Tokgözoğlu3
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Abstract
Objective:
Heart failure (HF) has a high prevalence and mortality rate in elderly patients; however, there are few studies that have focused on patients older than 80 years. The aim of this study is to describe and compare the age-specific demographics and clinical features of Turkish elderly patients with HF who were admitted to cardiology clinics.
Methods:
The Epidemiology of Cardiovascular Disease in Elderly Turkish population (ELDER-TURK) study was conducted in 73 centers in Turkey, and it recruited a total of 5694 patients aged 65 years or older. In this study, the clinical profile of the patients who were aged 80 years or older and those between 65 and 79 years with HF were described and compared based on the ejection fraction (EF)-related classification: HFrEF and HFpEF (is considered as EF: ≥50%).
Results:
A total of 1098 patients (male, 47.5%; mean age, 83.5±3.1 years) aged ≥80 years and 4596 patients (male, 50.2 %; mean age, 71.1±4.31 years) aged 65-79 years were enrolled in this study. The prevalence of HF was 39.8% for patients who were ≥80 years and 27.1% for patients 65–79 years old. For patients aged ≥80 years with HF, the prevalence rate was 67% for hypertension (HT), 25.6% for diabetes mellitus (DM), 54.3% for coronary artery disease (CAD), and 42.3% for atrial fibrilation. Female proportion was lower in the HFrEF group (p=0.019). The prevalence of HT and DM was higher in the HFpEF group (pp>
Conclusion:
HF is common in elderly Turkish population, and its frequency increases significantly with age. Females, diabetics, and hypertensives are more likely to have HFpEF, whereas CAD patients are more likely to have HFrEF.
Keywords: epidemiology, heart failure, elder patients
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Introduction
Heart failure (HF) is a leading cause of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity, and it is associated with high costs that are burdening health deva systems (1). Approximately 6.5 million adults suffer from HF in the United States (2). According to veri from the Heart Failure Prevalence and Predictors in Turkey (HAPPY) study, the estimated prevalence of HF is 2.9% in Turkey, which means that 2.000.424 Turkish adults have HF (3). This huge population needs age-specific prudent deva to decrease the burden of the disease in Turkey.
The incidence and prevalence of HF gradually increase with advanced age. The number of elderly patients is also increasing in our population. Nearly 8.6% of total population is aged ≥85 years in Turkey (4). Furthermore, as the population gets older, the prevalence of HF continues to increase (5). This is due to progressive aging of the population, as well as the improvements in the HF survival over the years. In addition to its high prevalence, the disease also has a poor prognosis and high mortality rate in elderly patients. The 5-year mortality rate for 80-year-olds with HF is as high as 54.4% (2). Although HF has a markedly high mortality rate and prevalence in the elderly, few studies have focused on patients with HF who are older than 80 years. In large clinical trials, this growing population is underrepresented or excluded. However, patients aged ≥80 years show a different clinical profile when compared with younger patients. Patients aged ≥80 years with HF have a complex comorbidity and a high number of cardiovascular risk factors, which have a significant impact on the prognosis of the disease (6). Moreover, the effective treatment of chronic cardiovascular disorders, such as coronary artery disease (CAD), hypertension (HT), and diabetes mellitus (DM), may prevent the progression of HF.
Traditionally, HF has been defined as failure of the contractile function of the left ventricle. However, it is recognized that the HF symptoms can occur in the presence of olağan or near-normal EF, which is defined as HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). HFpEF and HFrEF have different clinical characteristics and prognostic factors. Patients with HFpEF are more often female and are more likely to have HT but less likely to have CAD. A recent meta-analysis suggests that patients with HFpEF may have a lower mortality rate than those with HFrEF (7). Altough all these differences are well known to affect the prognosis and the clinical outcome of elderly patients with HF, there is not much evidence, especially considering those issues related to specific characteristics of the elderly with HFrEF and HFpEF. Further studies are required to determine specific clinical characteristics of patients aged ≥80 years with HFrEF and HFpEF to produce a contemporary management strategy. The objective of this study is to determine clinical characteristics and major comorbidities of Turkish patients aged ≥80 years with HFrEF and HFpEF, and to compare them with patients aged 65-79 years.
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Methods
Study design
In this study, we used veri of 5694 patients aged ≥65 years who were recruited from the ELDER–TURK study, which was conducted in 73 volunteering hospital cardiology clinics participating in 12 EUROSTAT NUTS1 regions of Turkey (Fig. 1, Table 1). The design and details of this study have been reported before (8-10).
Figure 1
Twelve NUTS regions of Turkey
Table 1
List of participating centers and NUTS1 regions
Published online 2019 Mar 1. doi: 10.14744/AnatolJCardiol.2018.94556
PMCID: PMC6528498
PMID: 30930455
Demographics of patients with heart failure who were over 80 years old and were admitted to the cardiology clinics in Turkey
Gülay Gök, Mehdi Zoghi,1 Ümit Yaşar Sinan,2 Salih Kılıç,1 and Lale Tokgözoğlu3
Author information Article notes Copyright and License information Disclaimer
Go to:
Abstract
Objective:
Heart failure (HF) has a high prevalence and mortality rate in elderly patients; however, there are few studies that have focused on patients older than 80 years. The aim of this study is to describe and compare the age-specific demographics and clinical features of Turkish elderly patients with HF who were admitted to cardiology clinics.
Methods:
The Epidemiology of Cardiovascular Disease in Elderly Turkish population (ELDER-TURK) study was conducted in 73 centers in Turkey, and it recruited a total of 5694 patients aged 65 years or older. In this study, the clinical profile of the patients who were aged 80 years or older and those between 65 and 79 years with HF were described and compared based on the ejection fraction (EF)-related classification: HFrEF and HFpEF (is considered as EF: ≥50%).
Results:
A total of 1098 patients (male, 47.5%; mean age, 83.5±3.1 years) aged ≥80 years and 4596 patients (male, 50.2 %; mean age, 71.1±4.31 years) aged 65-79 years were enrolled in this study. The prevalence of HF was 39.8% for patients who were ≥80 years and 27.1% for patients 65–79 years old. For patients aged ≥80 years with HF, the prevalence rate was 67% for hypertension (HT), 25.6% for diabetes mellitus (DM), 54.3% for coronary artery disease (CAD), and 42.3% for atrial fibrilation. Female proportion was lower in the HFrEF group (p=0.019). The prevalence of HT and DM was higher in the HFpEF group (pp>
Conclusion:
HF is common in elderly Turkish population, and its frequency increases significantly with age. Females, diabetics, and hypertensives are more likely to have HFpEF, whereas CAD patients are more likely to have HFrEF.
Keywords: epidemiology, heart failure, elder patients
Go to:
Introduction
Heart failure (HF) is a leading cause of cardiovascular mortality and morbidity, and it is associated with high costs that are burdening health deva systems (1). Approximately 6.5 million adults suffer from HF in the United States (2). According to veri from the Heart Failure Prevalence and Predictors in Turkey (HAPPY) study, the estimated prevalence of HF is 2.9% in Turkey, which means that 2.000.424 Turkish adults have HF (3). This huge population needs age-specific prudent deva to decrease the burden of the disease in Turkey.
The incidence and prevalence of HF gradually increase with advanced age. The number of elderly patients is also increasing in our population. Nearly 8.6% of total population is aged ≥85 years in Turkey (4). Furthermore, as the population gets older, the prevalence of HF continues to increase (5). This is due to progressive aging of the population, as well as the improvements in the HF survival over the years. In addition to its high prevalence, the disease also has a poor prognosis and high mortality rate in elderly patients. The 5-year mortality rate for 80-year-olds with HF is as high as 54.4% (2). Although HF has a markedly high mortality rate and prevalence in the elderly, few studies have focused on patients with HF who are older than 80 years. In large clinical trials, this growing population is underrepresented or excluded. However, patients aged ≥80 years show a different clinical profile when compared with younger patients. Patients aged ≥80 years with HF have a complex comorbidity and a high number of cardiovascular risk factors, which have a significant impact on the prognosis of the disease (6). Moreover, the effective treatment of chronic cardiovascular disorders, such as coronary artery disease (CAD), hypertension (HT), and diabetes mellitus (DM), may prevent the progression of HF.
Traditionally, HF has been defined as failure of the contractile function of the left ventricle. However, it is recognized that the HF symptoms can occur in the presence of olağan or near-normal EF, which is defined as HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). HFpEF and HFrEF have different clinical characteristics and prognostic factors. Patients with HFpEF are more often female and are more likely to have HT but less likely to have CAD. A recent meta-analysis suggests that patients with HFpEF may have a lower mortality rate than those with HFrEF (7). Altough all these differences are well known to affect the prognosis and the clinical outcome of elderly patients with HF, there is not much evidence, especially considering those issues related to specific characteristics of the elderly with HFrEF and HFpEF. Further studies are required to determine specific clinical characteristics of patients aged ≥80 years with HFrEF and HFpEF to produce a contemporary management strategy. The objective of this study is to determine clinical characteristics and major comorbidities of Turkish patients aged ≥80 years with HFrEF and HFpEF, and to compare them with patients aged 65-79 years.
Go to:
Methods
Study design
In this study, we used veri of 5694 patients aged ≥65 years who were recruited from the ELDER–TURK study, which was conducted in 73 volunteering hospital cardiology clinics participating in 12 EUROSTAT NUTS1 regions of Turkey (Fig. 1, Table 1). The design and details of this study have been reported before (8-10).
Figure 1
Twelve NUTS regions of Turkey
Table 1
List of participating centers and NUTS1 regions
Percentage (%) of total patient population | Percentage (%) of total Turkish population |
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