Determinants of Severity in Heart Failure Among Patients in Butembo, Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract

Introduction: Heart failure (HF) was among the cardiovascular conditions with high mortality rates due to its severity. The objective of this study was to identify the factors associated with the severity of HF in Butembo.

Material and methods: This was a prospective, analytical study of heart failure patients followed at the Graben University Clinics over a three-year period. To confirm the association of a factor with HF, we used the Chi-square or Fisher's exact test at a threshold of 0.05 and logistic regression to eliminate confounding factors using SPSS version 23 software.

Results: Seventy-three of the 235 patients (31.1%) at recruitment had severe heart failure (NYHA III and NYHA IV). Severity increased with age 0.06 (95% CI: 1.06-1.11; p=0.007). The risk factors for HF severity were: use of indigenous anti-poison products ]4.71 (95% CI: 10.51-1187.7; p =0.000)], dilated cardiomyopathy [4.38 (95% CI: 15.25-419.28; p 0.000)], ejection fraction [2.1 (95% CI: 3.88-17.43; p = 0.000)], renal failure 3.63 (95% CI: 3.4-423.67; p = 0.003) and pericarditis [2.72 (95% CI: 1.02-228.89; p 0.007)].

Conclusion: The factors contributing to the severity of CI were mainly cardiac. The major factor contributing to severity was cultural (the use of indigenous anti-poison products). Reducing these factors could improve the management of CI in the community in the future.