Heart failure & cardiomyopathies
Mixed-Methods Evaluation of a Multifaceted Heart Failure Intervention in General Practice: The OSCAR-HF Pilot Study
Authors' conclusion
The use of audit and feedback combined with natriuretic peptide testing was a successful strategy to increase the number of registered and objectified HF diagnoses at 6 months.
Study context
- Population
- Patients assessed by their GP to have heart failure (HF), 8 Belgian general practices (51 general practitioners (GPs))593 registered HF at 6 months
- Exposure
- Audit and feedback, point-of-care natriuretic peptide testing and HF nurse assistance in general practice; 6 months vs baseline
- HF nurse interventionn = 53
- Outcome
- Registered and objectified HF diagnoses
- Follow-up
- 6 months
Methodological detailsmixed-methods pilot, nonrandomized, noncontrolled, 8 Belgian general practices
- Mixed-methods pilot
- Nonrandomized
- Noncontrolled
- 8 Belgian general practices
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
6 months
Increase in registered HF population (baseline n = 538 to n = 593)
10.2%
Increase in objectified HF diagnoses (baseline n = 359 to 456)
27%
Newly registered HF diagnoses from natriuretic peptide testing (n = 60/111)
54%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | Difference (points) (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| MLHFQ quality of life at baselineSignificantly worse QoL with HF nurse intervention | 9.2 (4.0–14) | |
| −1001020Difference, points (linear scale) |
| Outcome | Change in MLHFQ score (points) (95% CI) |
|---|---|
| Change in MLHFQ score · 6 monthsSignificantly greater improvement | −9.8 (−15 to −4.5) |
HFrEF patients at target dose of RAAS inhibitors or beta-blockers, 6 months vs baseline
- No difference
- P = 0.9
GP focus groups (qualitative)
- Audit and feedback valuable but time intensive; natriuretic peptides useful but point-of-care test impractical; HF nurse a useful addition
Original publication
Mixed-Methods Evaluation of a Multifaceted Heart Failure Intervention in General Practice: The OSCAR-HF Pilot Study. ESC Heart Fail. Published 3 December 2022. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →