Chronic heart failure management in primary healthcare in Poland: Results of a nationwide cross-sectional study

Background: Organizational and educational activities in primary care in Poland have been introduced to improve the chronic heart failure (CHF) management. Objectives: To assess the use of diagnostic procedures, pharmacotherapy and referrals of CHF in primary care in Poland. Methods: The cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2013, involving 390 primary care centres randomly selected from a national database. Trained nurses contacted primary care physicians who retrospectively filled out the study questionnaires on the previous year's CHF management in the last five patients who had recently visited their office. The data on diagnostic and treatment procedures were collected. Results: The mean age ± SD of the 2006 patients was 72 ± 11 years, 45% were female, and 56% had left ventricular ejection fraction