Impact of Inadequate Calorie Intake on Mortality and Hospitalization in Stable Patients with Chronic Heart Failure

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Nutrition Science
• Clinical Research

Background:

• Malnutrition is common in heart failure (HF) patients.
• The specific impact of insufficient dietary energy on HF patient outcomes remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between inadequate calorie intake and adverse clinical events in stable outpatients with chronic heart failure.
• To determine if low energy intake is an independent predictor of poor outcomes in this population.

Main Methods:

• A cohort of 145 stable outpatients with chronic HF and a history of hospitalization for worsening HF were studied.
• Dietary patterns were assessed using a brief self-administered diet-history questionnaire (BDHQ).
• Inadequate calorie intake was defined as less than 60% of estimated energy requirements.

Main Results:

• 30% of patients (44 out of 145) had inadequate calorie intake.
• Patients with inadequate calorie intake experienced significantly worse clinical outcomes, including all-cause death and HF-related hospitalizations, over a 1-year follow-up (20% vs. 5%, p < 0.01).
• Inadequate calorie intake was identified as an independent predictor of adverse clinical events in multivariate analysis.

Conclusions:

• Inadequate calorie intake is associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality and rehospitalization due to worsening heart failure.
• These findings suggest that monitoring and addressing energy intake may be crucial for improving clinical outcomes in chronic HF patients.
• Larger studies with direct measurements of energy intake and expenditure are needed to confirm these preliminary results.