Can Serial Health Status Assessments Help Predict HF Outcomes?

Few clinically meaningful tools exist to help identify patients with heart failure who are at risk for adverse events, and little is known about the value of longitudinal assessments of potential prognostic factors. Investigators used data from the international EPHESUS study (Journal Watch Cardiology Sep 9 2005) to examine the relationship between longitudinal assessment of health status and clinical outcomes in 1358 patients with LV systolic dysfunction and symptomatic HF after MI. All participants completed the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ) 1 and 3 months after enrollment. Mean follow-up was 14 months after the 3-month assessment.

After adjustment for patient characteristics and baseline KCCQ scores, there were significa…