Pain, Return to Community Status, and 90-Day Mortality Among Hospitalized Patients With Heart Failure

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Gerontology
• Pain Management

Background:

• Pain is a prevalent issue for heart failure patients.
• Short-term discharge outcomes related to pain have been understudied.
• Investigating pain's impact on post-discharge recovery is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if pain at discharge predicts return to community status.
• To assess if pain at discharge predicts 90-day mortality in hospitalized heart failure patients.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cohort study analyzing 2169 heart failure patient records.
• Independent variable: diagnosis of pain at discharge.
• Outcomes: return to community status and 90-day mortality, analyzed using logistic regression.

Main Results:

• Patients with pain at discharge returned to the community less often (69.6%) than those without pain (75.2%).
• Pain at discharge was not a predictor of increased 90-day mortality.
• Age, comorbid conditions, dyspnea, fatigue, systolic blood pressure, and length of stay predicted return to community.

Conclusions:

• Discharge pain in heart failure patients is associated with reduced community return.
• Pain at discharge does not appear to increase 90-day mortality.
• Future research should explore acute vs. chronic pain stratification for mortality prediction.