Abstract
ObjectiveMalnutrition has a high occurrence in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). The prevalence of malnutrition and its impact on all-cause mortality in patients with CHF were assessed using a meta-analysis.MethodsPubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Medline, CBM, CNKI, WANFANG DATA, and VIP databases were searched to collect cross-sectional and cohort studies on malnutrition, and the prevalence and all-cause mortality of patients with CHF were determined. The time of retrieval was from the database establishment to May 2021. Two researchers independently performed screening of the literature, data extraction and assessed the risk of bias in the included studies. Then Stata 16.0 software was used for meta-analysis.ResultsA total of 10 cross-sectional and 21 cohort studies were included, including 12537 patients with CHF. A meta-analysis demonstrated that the total prevalence of malnutrition in patients with heart failure was 46% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.43, 0.49). Compared to patients with non-malnutrition, malnutrition increased the risk of all-cause mortality in patients with CHF (hazard ratio = 2.15, 95% CI [1.89, 2.45], P < 0.05).DiscussionCurrent evidence suggests that the prevalence of malnutrition is high among patients with CHF. The risk of all-cause mortality in such patients can be increased by malnutrition. Therefore, the risk of malnutrition in patients with CHF should be considered to reduce the occurrence of adverse clinical outcomes.
Highlights
Heart failure (HF) is an aggregate clinical syndrome, where various structural or functional diseases lead to ventricular filling and/or ejection dysfunction
A meta-analysis demonstrated that the total prevalence of malnutrition in patients with heart failure was 46% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.43, 0.49)
Compared to patients with non-malnutrition, malnutrition increased the risk of all-cause mortality in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF)
Summary
Heart failure (HF) is an aggregate clinical syndrome, where various structural or functional diseases lead to ventricular filling and/or ejection dysfunction. Epidemiological evidence in patients with HF demonstrates that malnutrition mostly occurs simultaneously with chronic heart failure (CHF). The progressive decline of ejection function in patients with CHF leads to blood stasis in systemic and pulmonary circulation, resulting in slow gastrointestinal peristalsis, abnormal secretion of digestive enzymes, and a high metabolism caused by cytokines, further leading to dystrophic absorption [2]. In such a case, patients with HF will lose weight and will demonstrate symptoms such as fatigue, dyspnea, decreased daily activities, decreased muscle volume and weakness, cognitive impairment, and dysphagia.
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