Patterns of Referral and Postdischarge Utilization of Cardiac Rehabilitation Among Patients Hospitalized With Heart Failure: An Analysis From the GWTG-HF Registry.

Abstract

Background

Coverage for cardiac rehabilitation (CR) for patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction was expanded in 2014, but contemporary referral and participation rates remain unknown.

Methods

Patients hospitalized for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (≤35%) in the American Heart Association Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure registry from 2010 to 2020 were included, and CR referral status was described as yes, no, or not captured. Temporal trends in CR referral were assessed in the overall cohort. Patient and hospital-level predictors of CR referral were assessed using multivariable-adjusted logistic regression models. Additionally, CR referral and proportional utilization of CR within 1-year of referral were evaluated among patients aged >65 years with available Medicare administrative claims data who were clinically stable for 6-weeks postdischarge. Finally, the association of CR referral with the risk of 1-year death and readmission was evaluated using multivariable-adjusted Cox models.

Results

Of 69,441 patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction who were eligible for CR (median age 67 years; 33% women; 30% Black), 17,076 (24.6%) were referred to CR, and referral rates increased from 8.1% in 2010 to 24.1% in 2020 (Ptrend<0.001). Of 8310 patients with Medicare who remained clinically stable 6-weeks after discharge, the CR referral rate was 25.8%, and utilization of CR among referred patients was 4.1% (mean sessions attended: 6.7). Patients not referred were more likely to be older, of Black race, and with a higher burden of comorbidities. In adjusted analysis, eligible patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction who were referred to CR (versus not referred) had a lower risk of 1-year death (hazard ratio, 0.84 [95% CI, 0.70-1.00]; P=0.049) without significant differences in 1-year readmission.

Conclusions

CR referral rates have increased from 2010 to 2020. However, only 1 in 4 patients are referred to CR. Among eligible patients who received CR referral, participation was low, with <1 of 20 participating in CR.

Department

Description

Provenance

Citation

Published Version (Please cite this version)

10.1161/circheartfailure.122.010144

Publication Info

Keshvani, Neil, Vinayak Subramanian, Christopher A Wrobel, Nicole Solomon, Brooke Alhanti, Stephen J Greene, Adam D DeVore, Clyde W Yancy, et al. (2023). Patterns of Referral and Postdischarge Utilization of Cardiac Rehabilitation Among Patients Hospitalized With Heart Failure: An Analysis From the GWTG-HF Registry. Circulation. Heart failure, 16(8). p. e010144. 10.1161/circheartfailure.122.010144 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/31124.

This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.

Scholars@Duke

Solomon

Nicole Solomon

Biostatistician, Senior

Brooke Alhanti

Statistical Scientist
Greene

Stephen Greene

Associate Professor of Medicine

I am a cardiologist with a clinical and research interest in heart failure. I take care of patients with various types of heart failure, including patients who are best treated with medications and patients who receive advanced therapies like heart transplantation and mechanical assist devices. I became a heart failure cardiologist to help patients manage their heart conditions and best achieve their goals for their health. I am strongly committed to helping patients thoroughly understand their medical conditions and helping them make informed medical decisions aligned with their preferences.

My research interests are focused on strategies and therapies to improve outcomes and quality of life for patients with heart failure. This involves research through clinical trials and through examining data from real-world clinical practice. Below, you will find my specific research interests:

  • Use and dosing of evidence-based heart failure medications
  • Management of worsening heart failure outside the hospital
  • Novel pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches to heart failure
  • Improving outcomes following a hospitalization for heart failure
  • Surrogate and nonfatal endpoints in heart failure clinical trials
  • Clinical trial design and operations
  • Improving site-based heart failure research
DeVore

Adam David DeVore

Associate Professor of Medicine

Adam D. DeVore, MD, MHS

Dr. DeVore is a cardiologist and Associate Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, at Duke University School of Medicine. His clinical interests include caring for patients and families with heart failure, including those with left ventricular assist devices and heart transplants. He is involved in and leads multiple large studies of patients with heart failure at both Duke University Medical Center and the Duke Clinical Research Institute. He currently serves as the medical director of the Duke Heart Transplant program.

He attended medical school at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and completed internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He then pursued cardiology training at Duke University and solidified his interests in clinical research and heart failure. He completed a research fellowship at the Duke Clinical Research Institute and a Masters of Health Sciences in Clinical Research before completing an advanced heart failure fellowship at Duke University.

The overarching goals of his research are to advance the current understanding of heart failure through clinical trials as well as develop an evidence base for implementation strategies that addresses the gap between heart failure trial results and clinical practice. For example, he has served on the Steering Committees for large clinical trials, including PIONEER-HF and SPIRRIT-HFpEF. Dr. DeVore also published the first clinical trial conducted within the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure program, a registry-based cluster randomized trial of quality improvement interventions. He was also the principal investigator for CONNECT-HF, a large-scale, pragmatic, cluster-randomized trial at 161 sites in the US evaluating heart failure quality improvement initiatives. Outside of his work on heart failure, Dr. DeVore is  married with 4 children and spends his time corralling them all and coaching youth baseball.

 

 


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