Table 1.
Baseline Characteristics
| Main Group | Systolic HF Subgroup | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardiologists | Generalists | P Valuea | Cardiologists | Generalists | P Valuea | |
| Total no. of patients | 1434 (19) | 6082 (81) | 639 (23) | 2116 (77) | ||
| Age, y | 67.7 ± 14.1 | 72 ± 14.7 | <0.001 | 66.3 ± 14 | 70.0 ± 15.1 | 0.343 |
| Female sex | 667 (47) | 3470 (57) | <0.001 | 259 (41) | 977 (46) | 0.009 |
| Other races | ||||||
| Hispanics | 490 (34) | 1896 (31) | 0.067 | 254 (40) | 710 (34) | 0.011 |
| African American | 424 (30) | 2099 (35) | <0.001 | 202 (32) | 809 (38) | 0.002 |
| CAD | 1016 (71) | 3805 (63) | <0.001 | 485 (76) | 1591 (75) | 0.476 |
| Hypertension | 1192 (83) | 5249 (86) | <0.001 | 547 (86) | 1855 (88) | 0.084 |
| DM requiring Rx | 771 (54) | 3367 (55) | 0.481 | 374 (59) | 1183 (56) | 0.087 |
| MI | 34 (2) | 120 (2) | 0.098 | 24 (4) | 67 (3) | 0.155 |
| AF | 558 (39) | 2207 (36) | 0.002 | 258 (40) | 810 (38) | 0.072 |
| Systolic HF, LVEF <50% | 750 (52) | 2120 (35) | <0.001 | 639 (100) | 2116 (100) | — |
| HF with preserved LVEF | 149 (10) | 2497 (41) | <0.001 | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | — |
| No documented LVEF | 444 (31) | 1464 (24) | <0.001 | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | — |
| Heart rate, bpm | 80 ± 17 | 82 ± 16 | <0.001 | 82 ± 18 | 84 ± 16 | 0.002 |
| SBP, mm Hg | 135 ± 26 | 141 ± 26 | <0.001 | 132 ± 25 | 139 ± 25 | <0.001 |
| DBP, mm Hg | 75 ± 16 | 78 ± 16 | <0.001 | 76 ± 17 | 80 ± 17 | <0.001 |
| ProBNP values | 10 168 ± 19 042 | 9005 ± 16 525 | 0.568 | 11 100 ± 22 316 | 12 457 ± 20 303 | 0.653 |
| BUN, mg/dL | 29.8 ± 18.2 | 29.8 ± 33.2 | 0.965 | 30.3 ± 19 | 29 ± 18.2 | 0.016 |
| Cr, mg/dL | 1.39 ± 0.64 | 1.37 ± 0.69 | 0.111 | 1.4 ± 0.62 | 1.4 ± 0.67 | 0.990 |
| Serum Na, mg/dL | 138.8 ± 4.1 | 138.7 ± 4.6 | 0.842 | 139 ± 4.0 | 139 ± 4.3 | 0.493 |
| LVEF, % | 42.2 ± 17.0 | 49.0 ± 16.3 | 0.101 | 32.5 ± 11.7 | 34.5 ± 11.9 | <0.001 |
| Length of stay, d | 6.4 ± 5.3 | 6.4 ± 6.2 | 0.771 | 6.4 ± 5.0 | 6.4 ± 6.0 | 0.960 |
|
Verified using Framingham score, % |
94 | 92 | 0.89 | 98 | 96 | 0.91 |
| Elixhauser score | 4.7 ± 3.1 | 4.8 ± 3.0 | 0.286 | 4.9 ± 3.0 | 4.9 ± 3.1 | 0.127 |
| Echocardiography | 964 (67) | 4617 (76) | <0.001 | 639 (100) | 2116 (100) | — |
| Use of HF medications and devices | ||||||
| ACEIs/ARBs | 912 (64) | 3408 (56) | <0.001 | 421 (66) | 1387 (65) | 0.993 |
| β‐Blockers | 1006 (70) | 3668 (60) | <0.001 | 483 (76) | 1539 (73) | 0.158 |
| Spironolactone | 260 (18) | 679 (11) | <0.001 | 145 (23) | 400 (19) | 0.024 |
| Hydralazine/nitrates | 87 (6) | 311 (5) | 0.103 | 62 (10) | 175 (8) | 0.182 |
| AICD, %b | — | — | — | 51 | 30 | <0.001 |
| CRT, %b | — | — | — | 23 | 8 | 0.005 |
Abbreviations: ACEI, angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitor; AF, atrial fibrillation; AICD, automatic implantable cardioverter‐defibrillator; ARB, angiotensin II receptor blocker; BUN, blood urea nitrogen; CAD, coronary artery disease; Cr, creatinine; CRT, cardiac resynchronization therapy; DBP, diastolic blood pressure; DM, diabetes mellitus; GEE, generalized estimating equations; HF, heart failure; LVEF, left ventricular ejection fraction; MI, myocardial infarction; Na, sodium; proBNP, pro‐brain natriuretic peptide; Rx, medical treatment; SBP, systolic blood pressure; SD, standard deviation.
Values are reported as mean ± SD for continuous data and frequency (%) for categorical data.
P value from GEE model.
The use of AICD and CRT percentage was calculated from the eligible patients with LVEF <35%.