Abstract P174: The Association Between Infection-Related Hospitalization and Incident Heart Failure: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study

Introduction:Infections are associated with worse clinical outcomes among patients with heart failure (HF). However, little is known about the influence of infection-related hospitalizations on development of incident HF and its subtype.Hypothesis:We hypothesize that those with an infection-related hospitalization (hereafter ‘infection’) compared to those without infection, will experience an increased rate of incident HF events (any HF, HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF)).Methods:We examined 14,398 participants enrolled in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study who were HF free at visit 1 (1987-1989). Hospitalized infections and HF were identified via participant self-report and active surveillance of hospitalizations. Among the hospitalized, infection was further defined using ICD-9/10 codes in the first five positions of hospital records. A subset of HF events was further classified as HFpEF or HFrEF via chart abstraction and adjudication by centrally trained and certified physicians. Infection was treated as a time-varying exposure and the co-occurrence of infection and HF in the same hospital visit were excluded. Multivariable-adjusted Cox proportional hazards models assessed the association between infection and incident HF, HFrEF, and HFpEF.Results:The overall baseline sample was 54% (7,835 of 14,398) female, 26% (3,688 of 14,398) Black and had a mean(SD) age of 54(5.8). Mean(SD) time to infection was 16.1(8.7) years, and 2.3(7.5) years from infection to incident HF. Average follow-up among the full sample was 23.0(8.5). Overall, 46% (6,603 of 14,398) had an infection and 3,561 developed any HF. Among participants with subtype adjudication, 470 had HFpEF and 450 had HFrEF. Infection-related hospitalization was associated with an increased risk for both HFpEF and HFrEF (Table).Conclusion:Infection-related hospitalization was associated with both incident HFpEF and HFrEF. A stronger effect is seen among those with HFpEF.