Today, nearly 20% of the Swedish population originates from multiethnic backgrounds. Patients' symptom expressions, adherence to health regimens, and communication with health-care professionals have been shown to be related to their ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
Purpose: To describe documented care of immigrant patients and matched Swedish patients at a heart failure clinic.
Method: Journal audit of records of 25 immigrant and 25 matched Swedish patients with HF included from the patient registration database at the hospital where they were cared for.
Results: In the immigrant group, significantly fewer clinical parameters were assessed during their visits and fewer patients were scheduled for follow-up visits. Analyses revealed that some of the items recommended in the European Society of Cardiology guidelines for non-pharmacological HF care were overlooked for both of the groups.
Conclusions: We found that medication adjustments and information about the condition and treatment were fairly similarly documented between Swedish and immigrant patients while significantly fewer clinical measurements and follow-up visits were documented for the immigrant group.