title: Outcomes for women and men who attend a heart failure clinic: results of a 12-month longitudinal study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although prevalence of heart failure (HF) is similar in women and men, more men are admitted to specialized HF clinics, possibly owing to a perception that men benefit more. Our aim was to describe 1-year outcomes in men and women attending specialized HF clinics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We enrolled 531 newly referred patients (mean age 66 years, 26% women) to 1 of 6 HF multidisciplinary clinics in Quebec. Data were collected at time of entry to the clinic and 6 and 12 months later. The 3 main outcomes, mortality, disease evolution (New York Heart Association functional class, quality of life, 6-minute walk), and number of hospital admissions/emergency department visits were analyzed separately. Survival was higher in women than in men (adjusted hazard ratio 2.53, 95% confidence interval 1.10-5.80). Both women and men improved over the 12-month period in terms of quality of life, 6-minute walk, and lower use of hospital and emergency department. Persons who at entry to the clinic had more severe disease showed more improvement. Deterioration over the year was associated with higher number of comorbidities, but not with age or gender.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both men and women with HF who attend specialized HF clinics improved, including those with more severe disease.
authors.affiliation: School of Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada. debbie.feldman@umontreal.ca
authors.forename: Debbie Ehrmann
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Feldman
authors.forename: Anique
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ducharme
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Giannetti
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Frenette
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Michel
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Grondin
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sheppard
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Des Lauriers
authors.forename: Hassan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Behlouli
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pilote
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital / Q000639:trends*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome