Association of early acute-phase rehabilitation initiation on outcomes among patients aged ≥90 years with acute heart failure

Background: Data on the potential benefit of acute-phase rehabilitation initiation in very old (aged > 90) patients with acute heart failure (AHF) have been scarce.Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from the Diagnosis Procedure Combination database, which is a nationwide inpatient database. This study included patients hospitalized for heart failure (HF) from January 2010 to March 2018, those aged > 90 years, who had a length of stay of > 3 days, New York Heart Association (NYHA) class of > II, and had not undergone major procedures under general anesthesia. Propensity score matching and generalized linear models were used to compare in-hospital mortality, length of stay,30-day readmission rate due to HF, all-cause 30-day readmission, and improvement in activities of daily living (ADL) between patients with and without an acute-phase rehabilitation initiation, which is defined as the rehabilitation initiation within 2 days after hospital admission. Results: Acute-phase rehabilitation was initiated in 8588 of 41,896 eligible patients. Propensity score matching created 8587 pairs. Patients with acute phase rehabilitation initiation have lower in-hospital mortality (9.0% vs. 11.2%, p < 0.001). Acute-phase rehabilitation initiation was associated with lower in hospital mortality (odds ratio, 0.778; 95% confidence interval, 0.704-0.860). Patients with acute-phase rehabilitation initiation have a shorter median length of stay (17 days vs. 18 days, p < 0.001), lower 30-day readmission rate due to HF (5.5% vs. 6.4%, p= 0.011) and all-cause 30-day readmission (10.2% vs. 11.2%, p= 0.036), and better ADL improvement (49.7% vs. 46.9%, p < 0.001). Subgroup analysis revealed consistent results (sex, body mass index, NYHA class, and Barthel Index).Conclusions: The acute-phase rehabilitation initiation was associated with improved short-term clinical outcomes in patients aged > 90 years with AHF.

Automated summary

The study indicates that initiating rehabilitation therapy early for elderly patients with acute heart failure (AHF) aged > 90 can improve short-term clinical outcomes.