Heart failure & cardiomyopathies
Delay in Cardiology Consultation After Primary Care Physician Referrals in Heart Failure: Clinical Implications
Authors' conclusion
Delay in cardiology assistance following a PCP referral among patients previously diagnosed with HF was associated with increased in all-cause, CV, and HF mortality at 1 year.
Study context
- Population
- Patients with prior heart failure (HF) diagnosis referred by primary care physician (PCP) to cardiology consultation, 2010–2021of 68,518 referrals
- Participants
- 6,379 patients
- Exposure
- Delay to cardiology consultation after PCP referral
- Outcome
- All-cause, CV and HF mortality and hospitalization
- Follow-up
- 1 year
Methodological detailssingle-institution electronic medical records
- Single-institution electronic medical records
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Mortality per day of delay
Continuous delay to consultationHazard ratio (95% CI)P value
All-cause mortality; multivariate
1.02(1.01–1.02)
P < 0.01CV mortality; multivariate
1.01(1.00–1.02)
P < 0.01HF mortality; multivariate
1.01(1.00–1.03)
P < 0.01Per day of delay, as printed
- Increase in all-cause mortality per day of delay
- 0.25%
- Increase in cardiovascular (CV) mortality per day of delay
- 0.13%
- Increase in HF mortality per day of delay
- 0.11%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | Estimate | P value |
|---|---|---|
| Mortality and HF readmission, <2 days vs >14 days · 1 year | 1.21 (CI 1.10–1.33) | P < 0.01 |
- Mortality and HF readmission, <2 days vs >14 days: significantly lower mortality and HF readmission with <2 days
Original publication
Delay in Cardiology Consultation After Primary Care Physician Referrals in Heart Failure: Clinical Implications. ESC Heart Fail. Published 17 October 2024. doi:10.
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