Routine clinical variables, particularly diabetes, are strong independent predictors of mortality and morbidity in patients with chronic heart failure regardless of ejection fraction.
In a large contemporary CHF population, including patients with preserved and decreased left ventricular systolic function, routine clinical variables can discriminate risk regardless of EF. Diabetes was found to be a surprisingly strong independent predictor. These models can stratify risk and help define how patient characteristics relate to clinical course.
Pocock et al. (2005) studied this question.