Background and objective: The relationship between diabetes mellitus and heart failure is not fully established. The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of diabetes and its prognostic significance, considering mortality and the need of hospital admission due to heart failure during the first year of follow-up, in an outpatient population with heart failure attended in a specialized Unit.
Patients and method: We studied 362 patients -73% men; mean age (standard deviation) 65.3 (10.9) years-. Mean ejection fraction was 32.2% (12.7%). Patients were in New York Heart Association functional class I (5%), II (47%), III (43%) and IV (5%).
Results: One-hundred forty-three out of 362 patients were diabetic (39.5%). Thirty patients (8%) died and 70 (19%) needed to be hospitalized due to heart failure during the first year of follow-up. One year mortality was 5% in non-diabetic patients and 13.3% in diabetic patients (p = 0.005). 13.2% of non-diabetic patients suffered at least one episode of heart failure needing hospital admission, whereas 28.7% of diabetic patients needed to be hospitalized at least once (p < 0.001). In the multivariate regression analysis, diabetes remained statistically associated both with mortality and with the need of heart failure related hospital admission.
Conclusions: Diabetes significantly correlated with a higher one year mortality as well as with a greater need of hospital admission due to heart failure. Prevalence of diabetes in a general population with heart failure was high.