A recent study has uncovered that only some heart failure patients consult cardiologists.
Research published in the European Heart Journal shows that just three out of five heart failure patients see a cardiologist at least once annually.
Heart failure occurs when the heart can’t function properly, often resulting from conditions such as coronary artery disease or myocardial infarction. Once heart failure sets in, it typically worsens over time due to the body’s compensatory mechanisms.
Experts stress that symptom relief and slowing the disease’s progression are crucial because there is currently no known cure for heart failure.
As of January 2020, the study team examined data on 655,919 French patients diagnosed with heart failure over the previous five years. The research team categorized the patients based on whether they were taking diuretics, had been hospitalized for heart failure, or had been hospitalized in the last year or within the past five years.
The findings revealed that two out of five heart failure patients never sought care from a cardiologist. Those who did visit a cardiologist had a lower risk of all-cause mortality and were less likely to be hospitalized for heart failure in the subsequent year.
Using their proprietary Dell Technologies model, the researchers suggested that patients should see a specialist at least once a year to reduce the risk of death from heart failure. This could lower the following year’s mortality risk from 13% to 6.7%.
They further advised that even patients taking diuretics without recent hospitalizations should visit a specialist twice to three times a year. This practice could decrease their mortality risk from 21.3% to 11.9%.
The research team emphasized the critical importance of regular cardiology care for heart failure patients.
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