title: Predictors and Associations With Outcomes of Length of Hospital Stay in Patients With Acute Heart Failure: Results From VERITAS.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The length of hospital stay (LOS) is important in patients admitted for acute heart failure (AHF) because it prolongs an unpleasant experience for the patients and adds substantially to health care costs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We examined the association between LOS and baseline characteristics, 10-day post-discharge HF readmission, and 90-day post-discharge mortality in 1347 patients with AHF enrolled in the VERITAS program. Longer LOS was associated with greater HF severity and disease burden at baseline; however, most of the variability of LOS could not be explained by these factors. LOS was associated with a higher HF risk of both HF readmission (odds ratio for 1-day increase: 1.08; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.16; P = .019) and 90-day mortality (hazard ratio for 1-day increase: 1.05; 95% CI 1.02-1.07; P < .001), although these associations are partially explained by concurrent end-organ damage and worsening heart failure during the first days of admission.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In patients who have been admitted for AHF, longer length of hospital stay is associated with a higher rate of short-term mortality.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  VERITAS-1 and -2: Clinicaltrials.gov identifiers NCT00525707 and NCT00524433.
authors.affiliation: Momentum Research, Durham, North Carolina. Electronic address: gadcotter@momentum-research.com.
authors.forename: Gad
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cotter
authors.affiliation: Momentum Research, Durham, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Beth A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Davison
authors.affiliation: Momentum Research, Durham, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Milo
authors.affiliation: University of Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama.
authors.forename: Robert C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Bourge
authors.affiliation: University of Hull, Kingston Upon Hull, United Kingdom; National Heart and Lung Institute, Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals NHS Trust, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: John G F
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Cleland
authors.affiliation: Service de Cardiologie, Hôpital Bichat, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Guillaume
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jondeau
authors.affiliation: Monash Centre of Cardiovascular Research and Education in Therapeutics, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Alfred Hospital, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Krum
authors.affiliation: Duke Clinical Research Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Christopher M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.affiliation: University of Brescia, Piazza Spedali Civili, Brescia, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Metra
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.affiliation: Methodist DeBakey Heart and Vascular Center, Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: Guillermo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Torre-Amione
authors.affiliation: University Medical Centre, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Dirk J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: van Veldhuisen
authors.affiliation: Kobrin Associates, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Isaac
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kobrin
authors.affiliation: Abanovus, Sanremo, Italy.
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rainisio
authors.affiliation: Momentum Research, Durham, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Senger
authors.affiliation: Momentum Research, Durham, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.affiliation: University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: John J V
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: McMurray
authors.affiliation: University of California San Francisco and the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, California, USA.
authors.forename: John R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Teerlink
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality*; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010359:Patient Readmission; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011725:Pyridines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013777:Tetrazoles / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D011725:Pyridines; D013777:Tetrazoles; C120582:tezosentan
keywords: Heart failure; length of stay; prognosis