January, Friday and Overnight are high risk periods for heart failure patients
Main Point:
Researchers have reported that mortality and length of stay are highest in heart failure patients admitted to the hospitals in the month of January, on the day of Friday and in the time of overnight.
Study Further:
These findings have been concluded after the analysis of 949,907 hospitalizations for congestive heart failure over 14 years in the hospitals of New York.
According to the findings,
- Daily heart failure admissions increased in February while in-hospital mortality and length of stay increased in January.
- Mortality and length of stay were lowest for admissions between 06h00-12h00 and highest overnight (18h00-24h00) by a little margin.
- Mortality and length of stay were lowest in patients admitted on Monday and highest on Friday.
These findings are important as they can help in identification and treatment of problems related to heart.
“Doctors and hospitals need to be more vigilant during these higher risk times and ensure that adequate resources are in place to cope with demand. Patients should be aware that their disease is not the same over the course of the year and they may be at higher risk during the winter. People often avoid coming into hospital during the holidays because of family pressures and a personal desire to stay at home but they may be putting themselves in danger,” Dr David P. Kao (Denver, Colorado), who presented the finding, said in a statement.
It has also been reported that although the heart failure admissions increased during the study period but in-hospital mortality and length of stay declined.
“These findings confirm the huge decline in mortality in hospitals for heart failure over the past 14-15 years following major advances in therapy,” Dr Kao said.
Researchers reported the findings at the Heart Failure Congress 2013 taking place from 25-28 May in Lisbon, Portugal.
