Why the study?
Does management by general practitioners compared to hospital cardiologists affect mortality and HF-related admissions in outpatients with heart failure?
Population
2,685 outpatients with heart failure (diagnosed by Framingham criteria), mean age 74, 46% male, in Japan.
Comparison
Management by primary care physicians in general… vs Management by cardiologists in hospital
Design
Cohort
Follow-up
mean 431 days (Hospital-HF) and 424 days (GP-HF)
Authors
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GP management may suit selected HF outpatients; leaves open confounding and needs prospective confirmation before practice change.
Does management by general practitioners compared to hospital cardiologists affect mortality and HF-related admissions in outpatients with heart failure?
Outpatients with heart failure managed in general practice are older, more often female, and have different etiologies and lower rates of evidence-based medication use compared to those managed in hospitals, but have comparable adjusted mortality and lower HF-related admission rates.
Tsutsui et al. (2007) studied this question.
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