Heart failure: Calling patients more often after hospitalization helps people live longer

More than 26 million people around the world experience heart failure.

Also known as congestive heart failure, this type of cardiovascular disease occurs when the heart is not able to efficiently pump blood throughout the body.

There is currently no cure for heart failure.

Previous research shows 20% to 25% of people with heart failure discharged from the hospital are readmitted within 60 days.

About 73% of people with heart failure will live five years and almost 35% for 10 years.

Now, according to new research led by investigators at the Smidt Heart Institute (Cedars-Sinai) in Los Angeles, heart failure patients who received a post-hospitalization care plan, including more follow-up phone calls from nurses, stayed out of the hospital longer than those who received the usual follow-up plan of only one follow-up phone call. 

The research team, which also included investigators from UCLA, UC Irvine, UC San Francisco, UC Davis, UC San Diego and Scripps, found people with heart failure alongside other diseases who received the additional phone calls spent less time in the hospital and were less likely to die during the study period compared to the group receiving the standard follow-up.

The study was recently published in the Journal of Cardiac Failure. The research team received support from the CTSI Biomedical Informatics Program for cohort development.

This story was adapted from the MedicalNewsToday press release featured here.

Image source: MedicalNewsToday