Does a brief functional assessment in the emergency department predict outcomes of patients admitted with heart failure? The FASTER-HF study.

Summary Background Evaluation of patients with acute decompensated heart failure includes symptom review, biomarker measurement and comorbidity assessment. Early objective evaluation of functional status is generally not performed. Aim To investigate whether a simple low-impact functional assessment and measurement of sarcopenia would be safe, feasible and predictive of hospital length of stay and all-cause 30-day hospital readmission. Methods We administered 3-minute bicycle ergometry and hand grip strength tests at admission and discharge to patients for whom a decision to admit for heart failure management was made in the emergency department. Associations were examined between test results and length of stay and 30-day readmission. Exclusion criteria included acute coronary syndrome, hypoxia, end-stage renal disease, dementia/delirium and inability to sit at bedside. The Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire-12, the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 and the visual analogue scale for dyspnoea were administered at admission, the visual analogue scale at discharge and the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire-12 at 30 days. Results Fifty patients were enrolled: 58% were female; the mean age was 66.2 ± 12.5 years; 24% had heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. Bicycle ergometry variables did not correlate with outcomes. Change in handgrip strength correlated with readmission, but not after adjustment (rpartial = 0.14; P = 0.35). Total diuretic dose correlated with length of stay; only discharge visual analogue scale and baseline lung disease had significant adjusted correlations with readmission. Conclusions Functional assessment in the emergency department of patients admitted for heart failure did not predict outcomes. However, the prognostic value of these assessments for decision-making about disposition (admission or discharge) may still be warranted.