title: Rehospitalization for heart failure in the elderly.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the burden of preventable rehospitalization for decompensated heart failure in the elderly.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a retrospective study performed in a Nigerian University Teaching Hospital,.   Demographic variables, etiology, and participants of heart failure were retrieved from data of elderly patients with heart failure admitted between January 2014 and December 2015. The participants were classified and described as either preventable, or unpreventable to determine whether the hospitalizations were preventable or not. The frequency of the groups with preventable participants (hospitalization) was derived.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Five groups of participants were preventable (55.5%), while 4 groups (44.5%) were unpreventable. The preventable participants were poor drug compliance (24 [23.4%]), uncontrolled hypertension (7 [6.9%]), infectious (34 [33.3%]), pulmonary thromboembolism (1 [1%]), and anemia (1 [1%]).The unpreventable participants include arrhythmias (19 [18.6%]), acute kidney injury (2 [2%]), acute coronary syndrome (1 [1%]), and progressive ventricular dysfunction (13 [12.7%]).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Multiple rehospitalization for heart failure is a challenge for the elderly, but 55.5% of these readmissions are preventable. Poor drug compliance and pulmonary infections were the most common preventable participants. Multidisciplinary measures involving patient education, home based care, and physician training will reduce the number of hospitalizations for heart failure in the elderly.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Benin, Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria. E-mail. ogbemudiaehi@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Ehimwenma J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Ogbemudia
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Asekhame
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010359:Patient Readmission; D012189:Retrospective Studies