1. Diagnosis of heart failure in elderly patients in primary care.
- Author
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Owen, Andrew, Cox, Stephen, Owen, A, and Cox, S
- Subjects
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HEART failure , *DISEASE diagnosis in older people , *PRIMARY care , *ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY , *ATRIAL fibrillation , *SYSTOLIC blood pressure , *DIAGNOSIS , *COMPARATIVE studies , *RESEARCH methodology , *MEDICAL cooperation , *PRIMARY health care , *RESEARCH , *RURAL population , *EVALUATION research , *DISEASE prevalence - Abstract
Background: Heart failure is difficult to diagnose in a primary care setting with a reported false positive diagnosis in up to 70% of cases.Aims: To use echocardiography in a large rural practice to evaluate the accuracy of diagnosis of heart failure in patients over 65 years of age.Methods: Sixty patients with a previous diagnosis of heart failure were selected at random from the practice records and were invited to attend for an echocardiogram at the practice premises.Results: Fifty-eight patients attended, the age was 81+/-7 years, 29% had impaired left ventricular (LV) systolic function of whom 65% were in atrial fibrillation. A further 7% had isolated diastolic LV dysfunction. The prevalence of heart failure by clinical assessment was 29 per 1000 in this patient group and 9 per 1000 when echocardiography was used to confirm the diagnosis.Conclusion: True heart failure in this population is less prevalent than has been estimated from practice records. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2001
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