Older adults' symptoms and their duration before hospitalization for heart failure.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the older adult heart failure patients' symptoms and their duration before a hospital admission and to explore related factors.

DESIGN

The study was an archival study of inpatient hospital records at one acute care facility in western New York.

SAMPLE

One hundred eighty-one patients with a mean age of 76 years.

RESULT

Ninety-one percent of the patients reported having dyspnea an average of 3 days before hospital admission, and 37% reported having acute dyspnea an average of 12 hours before admission. Thirty-five percent of the patients reported having edema, and 33% reported a cough for an average of 7 days before their hospital admission. Age, heart failure history, and a symptom pattern of simultaneous development of preadmission symptoms were each related to the length of time patients experienced symptoms before admission.

CONCLUSION

This study, at one acute care institution, showed that older adult patients with heart failure experience symptoms for a relatively long time before hospital admission. Education about symptom monitoring, symptom interpretation, and prompt health care-seeking are warranted for all patients with heart failure.