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Cardiologists' attitudes on communication about prognosis with heart failure patients

Martje H L van der Wal1,2, Lisa Hjelmfors1, Anna Strömberg1

  • 1Department of Health, Medicine and Caring Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.

ESC Heart Failure
|March 12, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Cardiologists recognize the importance of discussing prognosis with heart failure (HF) patients. Barriers like cognitive issues and time constraints exist, with Swedish doctors finding it more challenging than Dutch colleagues.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Patient Communication
  • Healthcare Management

Background:

  • Discussing prognosis with heart failure (HF) patients is recommended but often not implemented.
  • Understanding healthcare provider attitudes is crucial for improving patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore cardiologists' attitudes towards discussing prognosis with HF patients in Sweden and the Netherlands.
  • To identify perceived barriers and challenges in these discussions.

Main Methods:

  • A survey was distributed to 250 cardiologists in Sweden and the Netherlands.
  • 88 cardiologists responded, reporting on discussion practices, timing, responsible parties, barriers, and difficulty levels.

Main Results:

  • 82% of cardiologists discuss prognosis with all HF patients; 47% do so at diagnosis.
  • Key barriers include patient cognitive problems (69%) and lack of time (64%).
  • Cardiologists rated discussion difficulty as 4.2/10, with Swedish cardiologists finding it harder than Dutch counterparts.

Conclusions:

  • Most cardiologists deem prognosis discussion important for HF patients despite existing barriers.
  • A multidisciplinary approach is suggested to enhance prognosis communication in HF care.
  • Differences in perceived difficulty between Swedish and Dutch cardiologists warrant further investigation.
Abstract

Keywords:
CommunicationHeart failurePalliative carePrognosis

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