Table 2.
Baseline characteristics of 28,521 American and 8,180 Canadian patients ≥ 65 years of age with acute heart failure. Ab-breviations: SD, standard deviation; LVEF, left ventricular ejection fraction; ACE, angiotensin converting enzyme; ARB, angiotensin receptor blocker. Adapted from [100]
| Characteristic | United States | Canada | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demographic | |||
| Age, mean (SD), y | 80.1 (7.7) | 79.7 (7.5) | <0.001 |
| Female, % | 57.3 | 45.2 | <0.001 |
| Physical and laboratory findings | |||
| Systolic blood pressure, mean (SD), mmHg | 149.2 (30.9) | 148.6 (33.2) | 0.11 |
| Urea nitrogen, mean (SD), mg/dL | 27.5 (16.9) | 29.8 (18.8) | <0.001 |
| Renal insufficiency (creatinine >2.5 mg/dL or urea nitrogen >40 mg/dL), % | 15.8 | 19.2 | <0.001 |
| Serum sodium, mean (SD), mol/L | 138.6 (5.0) | 138.3 (4.9) | <0.001 |
| Hematocrit, mean (SD), % | 37.7 (6.0) | 36.9 (6.1) | 0.02 |
| Medical history, % | |||
| Hypertensin | 62.3 | 48.3 | <0.001 |
| Diabetes | 34.1 | 32.0 | <0.001 |
| Previous myocardial infarction | 25.6 | 36.0 | <0.001 |
| Cerebrovascular disease | 17.4 | 17.6 | 0.74 |
| Dementia | 9.9 | 9.2 | 0.06 |
| Mortality risk score, mean | |||
| 30-day | 84.0 | 93.1 | <0.001 |
| 1-year | 100.9 | 104.0 | <0.001 |
| In-hospital care and procedures | |||
| Length of stay, mean (SD), d | 6.1 (4.4) | 8.5 (12.3) | <0.001 |
| Cardiologist as attending physician, % | 18.8 | 19.4 | 0.22 |
| LVEF assessment, % | 61.2 | 41.7 | <0.001 |
| Cardiac catheterization, % | 5.6 | 0.59 | <0.001 |
| Percutaneous coronary intervention, % | 0.57 | 0.05 | <0.001 |
| Coronary artery bypass grafting, % | 0.41 | 0.04 | <0.001 |
| Discharge medications, % | |||
| Aspirin | 39.7 | 40.0 | 0.70 |
| Beta-blockers | 28.7 | 25.4 | <0.001 |
| ACE inhibitors or ARBs | 62.2 | 68.9 | <0.001 |
| Lipid-lowering medications | 16.7 | 15.0 | <0.001 |