Predictors of prolonged hospital length of stay in patients with heart failure
Keywords:
heart failure; length of stay; risk factorsAbstract
Introduction: Between 20% and 30% of heart failure cases, require prolonged hospital stays, increasing the annual costs of treating this disease. Therefore, it is imperative to develop studies that identify the determinants of prolonged hospital stays.
Objective: To determine the factors with independent predictive value for prolonged hospital stays due to heart failure.
Methods: An analytical cohort study was conducted with patients admitted for heart failure to Hospital Militar Central Dr. Carlos J. Finlay over a 9-month period. Bivariate analysis was performed using relative risk, and multivariate analysis was performed using binary logistic regression. Possible interactions between variables were explored, and those with the greatest statistical and clinical relevance were included in the final model.
Results: 38.8% of patients required prolonged hospital stays. The age group with the longest average length of stay was 80 years and older. In the bivariate analysis, the following factors represented a risk factor: female sex, functional dependence, and time spent in intensive care. In the multivariate analysis, the following independent predictive factors emerged: female sex (OR = 5.79; CI: 1.63–20.50) and length of stay in therapy (OR = 3.69; CI: 1.72–7.89).
Conclusions: Female sex and having been admitted to therapy were identified as factors with independent predictive value for prolonged hospital stay. However, prediction based solely on clinical factors is insufficient and requires an integrative approach that considers social factors.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Jorge Carlos Castillo Miranda, Miguel Ángel Blanco Aspiazu, Maylín Vargas Benitez, Doniel Valdés Rodríguez, Yasiel Milian Peña, Bania Torrens Barquín
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