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.