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Updated: Jul 18, 2026

Clinical Application of Phase Angle and BIVA Z-Score Analyses in Patients Admitted to an Emergency Department with Acute Heart Failure
Published on: June 30, 2023
Reasons for seeking acute care in chronic heart failure
Harshida Patel1, Masoud Shafazand, Maria Schaufelberger
1Institute of Health and Care Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy at Göteborg University, Sweden. Harshidaben.patel@vgregion.se <Harshidaben.patel@vgregion.se>
Background:
Patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) have frequent episodes of exacerbation leading to recurrent hospitalization.
Aims:
To explore factors related to patients seeking care for worsening CHF.
Methods:
Eighty-eight patients diagnosed with a deteriorating CHF condition were interviewed. Data were analysed using content analysis.
Results:
Overall, 51 (58%) patients sought emergency care because of their symptoms while 37 (42%) were either sent by relatives or referred from outpatient clinics. Delay in seeking care was explained by 62 (71%) patients as a "wait and see" strategy, 9 (10%) were reluctant to use the health care system and 10 (11%) felt that it was futile to seek care. Fifty percent of the patients were uncertain about their current deteriorating status. Only 4 patients reported their symptoms to be related to heart failure.
Conclusions:
Although symptoms were the dominant reason for seeking emergency care, only a few patients related their symptoms to worsening CHF, which might be an important factor for not seeking emergency care earlier. Patient education programs should make efforts to improve understanding of symptom recognition.
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