Long-Term Re-Admission after Hospital Discharge in Patients Admitted with Acute Heart Failure: The Prognostic Value of the Six-Minute Walk Test Distance

摘要

Background: We sought the value of the six-minute walk test distance in predicting re-admission in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) in the department of cardiology, Yalgado Ouédraogo University Hospital, Ouaga-dougou, Burkina Faso. Methods: We did a prospective observational study in patients hospitalized with acute decompensated heart failure and who underwent a 6-minute walk test (6-MWT) at their discharge from hospital. The primary end-point was hospital re-admission for heart failure de-compensation. Results: Sixty-one patients (52% females, mean age 46.9 ± 14.1 years, mean left ventricular ejection fraction 32.4 ± 8.2%, mean 6-MWT distance 336.3 ± 65 meters) were followed-up for a 277.6 ± 129.8 days’ period. Twenty-one patients (45.3 percent person-years) were re-admitted. Re-admitted patients had shorter 6-MWT distance (p = 0.007) and were more likely to die than those who were not re-admitted (RR = 1.72, 95% CI = 1.13 - 2.62, p = 0.003). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that re-admission was independently predicted by shorter 6-MWT distance (p < 0.001), New York Heart Association class III (p = 0.03), older age p = 0.03) and lower LVEF (p = 0.02). Conclusion: Distance covered during the six-minute walk test is an independent predictor of hospital re-admission for heart failure decompensation in patients with chronic heart failure.