ASEAN Heart Journal

Intended for healthcare professional

Original Article

ASEAN Heart Journal

December 2014, 22:16

First online: 10 December 2014

Original Article

Physicians’ Perception of the Patient Care Pathway for Acute Heart Failure in Asian Countries: Implications for Resource Allocation, Preventive Strategies and Clinical Trial Design

Elvira Zenaida Lansang MD,1 David Horsburgh,1 Yun Ning Lee,1 Adeline Sng,1 Ralph Moussalli MSc,1 Karen Wai MBBCh, MBA,1 Inder Anand MD, PhD, FRCP,2 Shu Zhang MD, PhD, FHRS,3 Wataru Shimizu MD, PhD, FJCC,4 Calambur Narasimhan MD, DM, AB,5 Sang Weon Park MD, PhD,6 Cheuk-man Yu MD, FRCP, FACC,7 Tachapong Ngarmukos MD,8 Razali Omar MBBS, M.MED, FHRS,9 Eugene B. Reyes MD, FPCP, FPCC,10 Bambang Budi Siswanto MD, PhD,11 Arthur Mark Richards MD, PhD, FRACP, FRCP, FRSNZ,12 Carolyn S.P. Lam MBBS, MRCP, MS12
Open Access
This content is freely available to anyone, anywhere at any time.
  • Summary
  • Supplementary Material
  • References
  • About this Article

Abstract

Background

Heart failure (HF) is a growing epidemic in Asia. However, data are scarce regarding the patient care pathway of HF in Asia. We aimed to investigate the HF patient pathways in Asia using a questionnaire-based survey.

Methods and Results

Seventy physicians in 12 Asian countries were surveyed using standardized questionnaires regarding patient source, precipitating factors, clinical presentation, referral pattern, and discharge plans for patients with Acute Heart Failure (AHF). Direct self-referral was reported as the most common source of admission. Majority (70%) of patients presented at the emergency department for worsening of chronic HF, with acute coronary syndrome being the most common precipitating factor, and acute pulmonary edema the most common presentation. Patients spent an average of 10 hours in the Emergency Department and majority were admitted to Cardiology Wards. HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) were the majority of cases except in Hong Kong and Japan. Most patients were discharged home and only 13-15% were enrolled in outpatient HF programs.

Conclusion

This survey highlights the heterogeneity of AHF patient pathways in Asian countries. These findings underscore the need for prospective studies to validate physicians’ reports, evaluate these differences and guide resource allocation and design of AHF clinical trials.

​ Keywords

Cardiovascular - Emergency - Congestive - Referral


Open Access: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited.

Supplementary Material

Nil

References

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About this Article

Title
Physicians’ Perception of the Patient Care Pathway for Acute Heart Failure in Asian Countries: Implications for Resource Allocation, Preventive Strategies and Clinical Trial Design


Open Access
Available under Open Access


Journal >> 22:1


Online Date
21 November 2019


DOI
10.7603/s40602-014-0015-z


Online ISSN
2315-4551


Publisher
ASEAN Federation of Cardiology


Additional Links Cardiology


Keywords
Cardiovascular
Emergency
Congestive
Referral


Author Affiliations
1. Quintiles East Asia, Singapore, Singapore
2. VA Medical Center, Minneapolis, United States
3. Fuwai Hospital, Beijing, China
4. National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center and Nippon Medical School, Osaka, Tokyo, Japan
5. CARE Hospital, Hyderabad, India
6. Korea University Anam Hospital, Seongbuk-gu, Korea
7. Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
8. Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand
9. Institut Jantung Negara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
10. Manila Doctors Hospital, Manila, Philippines
11. National Cardiovascular Center University Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia
12. Cardiovascular Research Institute, Singapore, Singapore


Correspondence to:
Carolyn S.P. Lam,carolyn_lam@nuhs.edu.sg