Clinical Characteristics and In-Hospital Outcome of Acute Heart Failure Patients Admitted to the Medical Ward of University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Despite the growing burden of heart failure in developing countries, data describing the clinical characteristics and in-hospital outcomes of acute heart failures are limited. Therefore, this study aimed at describing the clinical characteristics and in-hospital outcomes of acute heart failure patients admitted to the medical ward of University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia. METHODS: A prospective observational hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 226 patients with acute heart failure at the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital from November 2019 to October 2020. Data were collected by using a pretested data abstraction format and analyzed with Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 21. Bivariable and multivariable binary logistic regression model were fitted to identify factors associated with in-hospital outcome and reported with 95% confidence interval (CI). P-value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. RESULTS: The mean (± standard deviation) age of the study participant was 51.17±19.03 years and 59.3% were females. Majority, 60.6% of patients were admitted with new onset heart failure. Dyspnea (88.05%) and peripheral edema (80.5%) were the most frequent clinical findings. The in-hospital mortality was 10.6% (95% CI: 7.1-14.7). Atrial fibrillation (AOR=9.46; 95% CI: 1.49-60.29), concurrent ischemic heart disease (AOR=8.23; 95% CI: 1.15-58.89), being admitted with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (AOR=5.36; 95% CI: 2.81-35.52), presence of orthopnea (AOR=6.63; 95% CI: 2.94-46.76), and using intranasal oxygen therapy (AOR=9.41; 95% CI: 1.35-65.82) were significantly associated with in-hospital mortality in patients with acute heart failure. CONCLUSION: The in-hospital mortality of acute heart failure patients was relatively higher in the study area. Therefore, specific preventative and therapeutic strategies focusing on heart failure patients with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction, atrial fibrillation, ischemic heart disease, orthopnea, and intranasal oxygen therapy are required to reduce the mortality rate.