Burden of Comorbidities and Functional and Cognitive Impairments in Elderly Patients at the Initial Diagnosis of Heart Failure and Their Impact on Total Mortality: The Cardiovascular Health Study

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of clinically relevant comorbidities and measures of physical and cognitive impairment in elderly persons with incident heart failure (HF). Comorbidities and functional and cognitive impairments are common in the elderly and often associated with greater mortality risk. We examined the prevalence of 9 comorbidities and 4 measures of functional and cognitive impairments in 558 participants from the Cardiovascular Health Study who developed incident HF between 1990 and 2002. Participants were followed prospectively until mid-2008 to determine their mortality risk. Mean age of participants was 79.2 ± 6.3 years with 52% being men. Sixty percent of participants had ≥3 comorbidities, and only 2.5% had none. Twenty-two percent and 44% of participants had ≥1 activity of daily living (ADL) and ≥1 instrumental activity of daily living (IADL) impaired respectively. Seventeen percent of participants had cognitive impairment (modified mini-mental state exam score