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(HealthDay News) – Hispanic heart failure patients with preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) have better survival than non-Hispanic whites.
Rey P. Vivo, MD, of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, and colleagues compared patient characteristics, quality of care, and outcomes in 6,117 Hispanic patients and 71,859 non-Hispanic white patients with preserved EF (PEF; EF >40%) or reduced EF (REF; EF <40%). Data were obtained during 2005–2010 from 247 hospitals in the Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure program.
The researchers found that 46 and 54% of Hispanics had PEF and REF, respectively, compared with 55 and 45% of non-Hispanic whites, respectively. Hispanics with PEF or REF were more likely to be younger and to have diabetes, hypertension, and overweight/obesity, compared with non-Hispanic whites. In multivariate analysis, compared with non-Hispanic whites, Hispanics with PEF had a significantly lower mortality risk (odds ratio [OR], 0.55; P=0.003), but those with REF did not (OR, 0.92; P=0.628). Within the study period, composite performance improved significantly in all groups (Hispanics with PEF, 75.2–95.1%; non-Hispanic whites with PEF, 79.0–92.7%; Hispanics with REF, 67.7–88.4%; non-Hispanic whites with REF, 79.0–85.6%).
“Hispanic heart failure patients with PEF had better in-hospital survival than non-Hispanic whites with PEF,” the authors write. “Quality of care was similar and improved over time irrespective of ethnicity, highlighting the potential benefit of performance improvement programs in promoting equitable care.”
Several authors disclosed financial ties to pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure is partially funded by Medtronic and has received funding in the past from GlaxoSmithKline.
