Article Impact Level: HIGH Data Quality: STRONG Summary of European Heart Journal, ehac484. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehac484 Dr. Liesbet Van Bulck et al
Points
- The study’s main goal was to discover the reasons for death as well as the pattern of health care for congenital heart diseases.
- The research results indicated that the end of life could be improved through potentially intensive care and prevention.
- The findings of the study also suggest that life’s last year’s care can be improved, which depends on the healthcare system and how it responds to patients’ requirements and preferences.
Summary
Over the past five decades, the expectancy of life has substantially improved in patients with congenital heart disease. However, a significant portion of adults is at higher risk of asymptomatic death before 50 years due to chronic heart disease. It is debated whether sufficient comfort and elderly care can increase life expectancy in patients. So, the primary focus of the research was to explore the causes of death and the pattern of health care for congenital heart disease in an adult’s life end years.
For this purpose, the mortality follow-back study included congenital heart disease patients from Belgium. It used their healthcare utilization (cardiovascular procedures, palliative care, emergency ward visits, hospitalizations, ICU admissions, general and specialized comforting care) and their clinical data from the Belgian Congenital heart disease Database, combining Administrative and Clinical data.
This study comprises 390 patients, out of which 45% died due to cardiovascular diseases, followed by cancer, 16%, and 39% due to multiple conditions such as respiratory, endocrine, nutritional, metabolic, digestive, infectious, parasitic, etc. In the last year of life, Healthcare utilization results showed that 87% of patients who died were hospitalized, followed by patients who visited Emergency Department (78 %). The least were patients who received specialized palliative care (17%). Specialized palliative care contributed to death only 4% compared to death caused to cardiovascular. It is concluded that the end year of life can be improved through more use of intensive and preventable care. Future studies should work more on how the healthcare system can effectively respond in light of patients’ needs and preferences.
Link to the article: https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/advance-article/doi/10.1093/eurheartj/ehac484/6676419
References Van Bulck, L., Goossens, E., Morin, L., Luyckx, K., Ombelet, F., Willems, R., Budts, W., De Groote, K., De Backer, J., Annemans, L., Moniotte, S., de Hosson, M., Marelli, A., Moons, P., & BELCODAC consortium. (2022). Last year of life of adults with congenital heart diseases: Causes of death and patterns of care. European Heart Journal, ehac484. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehac484
