Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39911569›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of heart failure2025

Worsening Heart Failure and Medication Use in HFrEF: A Finnish Retrospective Registry Study and Patient Survey.

Aino Vesikansa, Juha Mehtälä, Sarah Smith, Anna Kirjavainen, Johanna Huupponen, Niina Säävuori, Katariina Pitkänen, Heikki Ukkonen

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of heart failure, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Aino VesikansaMedEngine Oy, Helsinki, Finland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6386-9956
Juha MehtäläMedEngine Oy, Helsinki, Finland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4088-8561
Sarah SmithMedEngine Oy, Helsinki, Finland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0008-0777-2886
Anna KirjavainenBayer Oy, Espoo, Finland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7036-2312
Johanna HuupponenBayer Oy, Espoo, Finland.
Niina SäävuoriBayer Oy, Espoo, Finland.
Katariina PitkänenTAYS Heart Hospital, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland.
Heikki UkkonenHeart Center, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2931-3073

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Understanding worsening heart failure events (WHFEs) and clinical practices in the real world is essential in heart failure (HF) management. The primary objective of this single-center, retrospective, observational study, including a patient survey, was to characterize WHFEs and associated factors during the first year after the incident HF diagnosis in Finnish patients. Secondly, implementation and adherence to guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) and mortality during the whole follow-up were assessed. Methods: Incident HF patients (International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision: I50) with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF; <40%) were identified between 2013-2019 from the hospital data lake of Southwest Finland. Clinical characteristics, healthcare resource utilization, medication prescriptions and purchases, and deaths were collected from hospital records and national registers between 2011-2021. A survey was linked with register data for a subgroup of patients. Associations between explanatory factors, WHFEs, and mortality were studied using logistic and Cox regression models. Results: Among 570 HFrEF patients, 23% (n=133) experienced a WHFE within the first year after the incident diagnosis. During this 1-year period, 85% used angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers, 90% beta-blockers, and 44% mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists, and >80% of patients were adherent to these medications. WHFEs were associated with higher risk of mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 1.82; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.31-2.53; p<0.001), whereas adherence was associated with a lower risk of WHFEs (odds ratio, 0.31; 95% CI, 0.20-0.48; p<0.001) and mortality (HR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.47-0.94; p=0.021) in multivariate models. Quality of life was lower in patients with (n=47) than without WHFEs (n=100). Conclusions: Improving adherence is crucial for mitigating adverse outcomes in HF.

Indexed as

Heart failureMedication adherenceQuality of lifeRegistries, Symptom exacerbation

Identifiers

PMID39911569
PMCPMC11791173

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.