Nurse-Led Heart Failure Follow-Up in Primary Care in Sweden

BACKGROUND: Little or no knowledge is available about which service is offered to patients with heart failure in primary care. AIMS: To describe nurse-led follow-up of patients with heart failure in primary care in Sweden. METHODS AND RESULTS: A questionnaire was sent to all primary health care centres in Sweden and 610 of 939 centres returned the questionnaire. Special nurses had designated time for follow-up of heart failure patients at 18% (n=111) of the centres, compared to 93% and 78% for diabetes and obstructive lung disease. Centres with nurse-led follow-up of heart failure patients more frequently provided heart failure information (p<0.001), had more doctors interested in heart failure (p<0.001), more often had special care programmes (p<0.001) and had more co-operation with the hospitals around patients with heart failure (p<0.01), compared to centres without such follow-up (n=499). CONCLUSION: In primary care in Sweden, nurse-led follow-up is uncommon for patients with heart failure, despite being common for patients with diabetes and obstructive pulmonary disease. To improve this situation in primary care, an increased number of specially trained nurses is needed, together with further research to ensure a high quality follow-up in primary care.