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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2021 May;9(5):336-345.
doi: 10.1016/j.jchf.2020.12.011. Epub 2021 Mar 10.

Sex Differences in Clinical Course and Patient-Reported Outcomes Among Patients Hospitalized for Heart Failure

Vanessa Blumer  1 , Stephen J Greene  2 , Angie Wu  3 , Javed Butler  4 , Justin A Ezekowitz  5 , JoAnn Lindenfeld  6 , Brooke Alhanti  3 , Adrian F Hernandez  2 , Christopher M O'Connor  7 , Robert J Mentz  2
Affiliations
Free article
Randomized Controlled Trial

Sex Differences in Clinical Course and Patient-Reported Outcomes Among Patients Hospitalized for Heart Failure

Vanessa Blumer et al. JACC Heart Fail. 2021 May.
Free article

Abstract

Objectives: The goal of this study was to evaluate differences in clinical and patient-reported outcomes between women and men hospitalized for acute HF.

Background: Among patients hospitalized for heart failure (HF), it is unclear if symptom burden, response to therapy, and patient-reported quality of life (QOL) are different in women as compared with men.

Methods: The ASCEND-HF (Acute Study of Clinical Effectiveness of Nesiritide in Decompensated Heart Failure) trial randomized 7,141 patients hospitalized for HF with reduced or preserved ejection fraction (EF) to receive nesiritide or placebo in addition to standard care. Clinical endpoints included 30-day mortality and rehospitalization and 180-day mortality. Patient-reported QOL was assessed at baseline, discharge, and 30 days using the EuroQOL 5 dimensions (EQ-5D) survey.

Results: Among 7,141 total patients, 4,697 (65.8%) were men and 2,444 (34.2%) were women. Among patients with EF ≤40%, women were less likely to receive angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin II receptor blocker and beta-blocker therapy, and less likely to have an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (all p < 0.03). Signs and symptoms of HF were similar between men and women (all p > 0.05), but women experienced less in-hospital weight loss and urine output (all p < 0.01). In unadjusted and adjusted analyses, men and women had similar risk of all mortality and rehospitalization endpoints (all p ≥ 0.41). Women reported lower EQ-5D utility and visual analogue scores at admission, discharge, and 30 days. Women continued to have significantly lower EQ-5D scores at all in-hospital and post-discharge time points after adjustment for clinical characteristics (all p < 0.01).

Conclusions: In this acute HF population, women had similar risk of mortality and rehospitalization as compared with men, but experienced worse patient-reported QOL during and after hospitalization that persisted after adjustment for demographic and clinical factors. Current acute HF management may work similarly in either sex for purposes of preventing clinical events, but may be less equipped to improve patient-reported outcomes in women as compared with men.

Keywords: heart failure; outcomes; quality of life; women.

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Conflict of interest statement

Funding Support and Author Disclosures Scios Inc. (Mountain View, California) provided financial and material support for the ASCEND-HF trial. Database management and statistical analysis was performed by the Duke Clinical Research Institute. Dr. Greene has received research support from the American Heart Association, Amgen, AztraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck, and Novartis; has served on advisory boards for Amgen and Cytokinetics; and has served as a consultant for Amgen and Merck. Dr. Butler is a consultant to Abbott, Adrenomed, Amgen, Array, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squib, CVRx, G3 Pharmaceutical, Impulse Dynamics, Janssen, LivaNova, Luitpold, Medtronic, Merck, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Relypsa, Roche, Sanofi, V-Wave Limited, and Vifor. Dr. Mentz has received research support and honoraria from Abbott, American Regent, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Boston Scientific, Cytokinetics, Medtronic, Merck, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi, and Vifor. All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose.

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