Epidemiology of heart failure and long-term follow-up outcomes in a north-African population: Results from the NAtional TUnisian REgistry of Heart Failure (NATURE-HF)

PLoS One. 2021 May 20;16(5):e0251658. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251658. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

The NATURE-HF registry was aimed to describe clinical epidemiology and 1-year outcomes of outpatients and inpatients with heart failure (HF). This is a prospective, multicenter, observational survey conducted in Tunisian Cardiology centers. A total of 2040 patients were included in the study. Of these, 1632 (80%) were outpatients with chronic HF (CHF). The mean hospital stay was 8.7 ± 8.2 days. The mortality rate during the initial hospitalization event for AHF was 7.4%. The all-cause 1-year mortality rate was 22.8% among AHF patients and 10.6% among CHF patients. Among CHF patients, the older age, diabetes, anemia, reduced EF, ischemic etiology, residual congestion and the absence of ACEI/ ARBs treatment were independent predictors of 1-year cumulative rates of rehospitalization and mortality. The female sex and the functional status were independent predictors of 1-year all-cause mortality and rehospitalization in AHF patients. This study confirmed that acute HF is still associated with a poor prognosis, while the mid-term outcomes in patients with chronic HF seems to be improved. Some differences across countries may be due to different clinical characteristics and differences in healthcare systems.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Multicenter Study
  • Observational Study

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Disease-Free Survival
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Heart Failure* / mortality
  • Heart Failure* / therapy
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Prospective Studies
  • Registries*
  • Survival Rate
  • Tunisia / epidemiology

Grants and funding

The authors received no specific funding for this work.