Heart Failure Prevalence Among US Nursing Home Residents With Diabetes Mellitus

According to data published in the International Journal of Cardiology, one of the first US studies was recently conducted to examine the prevalence and factors associated with heart failure in nursing home (NH) residents with diabetes mellitus.

This cross-sectional study was conducted using the US 2016 Minimum Data Set data, which consisted of residents with diabetes aged 65 years or older in Medicare/Medicaid certified NHs. In addition, for this study diabetes mellitus and heart failure were operationalized using the resident’s transfer notes at admission and the progress notes during admission through physical examination findings and current treatment orders.

Results from the study showed that among all residents with diabetes, 26.4% had heart failure. Furthermore, “increasing age of residents, and comorbidities including coronary artery disease (aOR: 1.34; 95% CI: 1.31–1.37), end stage renal disease (aOR: 1.30; 95% CI: 1.26–1.35), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (aOR: 1.60; 95% CI: 1.57–1.63) were associated with a higher odds of heart failure.”

Additional points of interest concluded from the study are that the prevalence of heart failure increases with advancing age in US NHs and factors associated with heart failure include pneumonia, obesity, CAD, and hypertension.

The highest odds for heart failure were found in older adults with pneumonia and COPD and those with a higher comorbidity index also have an increased odd of one-year mortality. Heart failure with comorbid conditions requires multidisciplinary care approach.

“Future research is needed to understand the pharmacological management of these residents and the extent to which appropriate management can improve quality of life for a medically vulnerable population,” concluded the study authors.

Reference:
Osundoklire S, Naqvi S, Nunes A, Lapane K. Heart failure among US nursing home residents with diabetes mellitus. Int J Cardiol. 2021. doi:10.1016/j.ijcard.2021.11.035