Heart failure as a predictor of functional dependence in hospitalized elderly

OBJECTIVE: Identify whether Heart Failure (HF) is a predictor of functional dependence for Basic Activities of Daily Living (BADL) in hospitalized elderly. METHODS: We investigated medical records and assessed dependence to BADL (by the Katz Index) of 100 elderly admitted to a geriatric ward of a university hospital. In order to verify if HF is a predictor of functional dependence, linear regression analyzes were performed. RESULTS: The prevalence of HF was 21%; 95% of them were dependent for BADLs. Bathing was the most committed ADL. HF is a predictor of dependence in hospitalized elderlies, increasing the chance of functional decline by 5 times (95% CI, 0.94-94.48), the chance of functional deterioration by 3.5 times (95% CI, 1.28-11.66; p <0.02) and reducing 0.79 points in the Katz Index score (p <0.05). CONCLUSION: HF is a dependency predictor of ADL in hospitalized elderly, who tend to be more dependent, especially for bathing.