Women and heart failure: Bridging the gap between disease burden and evidence-based treatment

Abstract

Background: Heart failure (HF) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among women. Despite the availability of guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT), treatment gaps persist, potentially impacting clinical outcomes.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical characteristics, comorbidities, GDMT utilization, and readmission among women hospitalized with heart failure over a one-year three month period.

Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted among 110 women diagnosed with heart failure over one year. Data on demographics, comorbidities, echocardiographic findings, diagnoses, GDMT utilization and readmissions were collected and analyzed descriptively.

Results: Among 110 women with heart failure, most were aged 50–79 years (80.9%). Severe left ventricular dysfunction was observed in 58.2% of patients. Diabetes mellitus and hypertension were the most common comorbidities (54.5%), while coronary artery disease was the leading underlying diagnosis (45.5%). Although 93.6% of patients received at least one component of GDMT, only 18.2% received all four recommended therapies. Overall survival was 97.3%, with mortality and readmission rates of 2.7% and 4.5%, respectively.

Conclusion: Women with heart failure demonstrated a significant burden of cardiovascular risk factors and ventricular dysfunction. Despite widespread use of individual GDMT components, complete implementation remained suboptimal. Enhancing adherence to evidence-based therapies may further improve outcomes and reduce the burden of heart failure in women.