Comparison of International Guidelines for Managing Chronic Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction

Heart failure (HF), a type of cardiovascular disease (CVD), is a major cause of death globally and significantly burdens patients and the healthcare systems. Therefore, an improved treatment strategy is a necessity to reduce the mortality and morbidity rates and reduce its associated costs. Continuous updates in guidelines for the treatment of heart failure, especially for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), have become evident in the last 5 years. An extensive literature search was conducted and the most recently published guideline recommendations for managing HFrEF in China, Canada, Europe, Portugal, Russia, and the United States were extracted. The differences in the treatment recommendations and the associated burdens, including mortality and morbidity rates and associated costs were analyzed. The HFrEF management guidelines recommended the clinical use of medicines belonging to 4 classes: an angiotensin II-receptor blocker plus neprilysin inhibitor (ARNI), beta-blockers (BB), mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRA), and sodium/glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2i). Several differences in the management guidelines from resulted in significant variability in the disease burden in each country. The annual cost was the lowest in Russia, however, it showed the highest prevalence and incidence rates. In China, disease prevalence and incidence rates were the lowest and the annual cost was also comparatively low. The annual cost was highest in Canada, but it was associated with low prevalence. The annual cost was low in Portugal, but the prevalence was high. There were no significant differences in the prevalence and incidence rates as well as the annual costs between the United States and Europe. The global 5-year mortality rate of heart failure (HF) ranged between 50% and 70%. The research articles from the United States were cited the most (35.8%) in the guidelines. The results indicate differences between HFrEF management guidelines from different countries and their association with increased global disease burden. This study suggests that a unified global collaborative effort between countries is imperative to improve the guidelines for managing HFrEF to lower the associated burden for both the patients and the healthcare systems.