title: Lack of long-term benefits of a 6-month heart failure disease management program.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Heart failure (HF) represents a major burden on the health care system, causing repeated hospitalizations and numerous emergency department (ED) visits. In a 6-month randomized study of a multidisciplinary HF clinic, we have previously shown decreased hospital readmissions and improved quality of life. Despite these encouraging results, it is unknown if these beneficial effects are sustained.
  
  
  RESULTS
  To assess long-term recurrent ED visits, readmissions, and mortality among HF patients who were discharged after a 6-month intensive HF management program (HFMP). Of the 230 subjects (New York Heart Association Class II-IV) who were initially randomized to standard follow-up care or to a HFMP for 6 months, 190 were studied retrospectively for long-term evaluation. Long-term data was obtained from the Quebec administrative health databases. We compared the intervention and control groups for the number of recurrent ED visits, hospital readmissions, and all-cause deaths. After a mean follow-up of 2.8 +/- 1.7 years, there was no difference in the composite end point of all-cause death, hospital admissions, and ED visits between those patients initially in the HFMP group and the controls. After multivariable adjustment, there was no difference in the composite primary endpoint (HR 1.01, 95% CI: 0.75-1.37) or in the secondary end point of all-cause death alone (HR 1.09, 95%CI:0.69-1.72) between those initially assigned to the HF clinic and those receiving usual care.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  For severely ill patients, the clinical and resource benefits of a 6-month HFMP are not sustained upon program cessation. Further research into the benefits of long-term HFMP is required.
authors.affiliation: Montreal Heart Institute Research Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Viviane
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Anique
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ducharme
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: White
authors.forename: Normand
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Racine
authors.forename: Eileen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: O'Meara
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jean L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Rouleau
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brophy
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D019468:Disease Management; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011792:Quebec / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013995:Time