Volume 3 • Issue 2 • 1000128 J Res Development ISSN: 2311-3278 JRD, an open access journal Open Access Research Article Azhar et al., J Res Development 2015, 3:2 DOI: 10.4172/2311-3278.1000128 Keywords: Chronic disease; Health education; Health literacy; Heart failure; Self-care Introduction Congestive heart failure (CHF) is one of the most prevalent and costly chronic diseases in the United States. It is also the only cardiovascular disorder that is increasing in both incidence and prevalence, partially due to population aging [1-7]. If not managed efectively and aggressively, frequent heart failure hospitalizations can cause signifcant deterioration of health, functional decline and increase in morbidity and mortality [3,5,6]. In the last few decades, use of several therapeutic agents (Angiotensin and aldosterone receptor blockers, spironolactone and beta blockers) in heart failure management have enabled prolonged survival and improved quality of life [8-12]. Despite these pharmacological advances, heart failure continues to be the leading cause of hospital admissions in adults over the age of 65 years [5,13-16]. While hospital admissions for heart failure exacerbation secondary to atrial fbrillation, pneumonia or resistant hypertension may not always be avoidable, a signifcant number of CHF related hospital admissions secondary to preventable reasons such as improved monitoring and self-management may be averted [17-26]. Arkansas is among the six southeastern states (other fve being Alabama, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Georgia) that form the heart-failure belt [24]. In addition, Arkansas has a greater proportion of people with low health literacy rate compared to the national average. Majority of the individuals with low health literacy are 65 years and older, which is the segment of population with the highest incidence of heart failure [1-3]. Poor health literacy is *Corresponding author: Gohar Azhar, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Geriatrics and Reynolds Institute of Aging, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA, Tel: 501.526.5821; E-mail: azhargohar@uams.edu $ both authors contributed equally. Received August 20, 2015; Accepted September 11, 2015; Published September 25, 2015 Citation: Azhar G, Raza S, Abid SA, Pangle AK, Schrader AM, et al. (2015) Congestive Heart Failure Awareness Assessment in a Geriatrics Out-patient Clinic in Central Arkansas. J Res Development 3: 128. doi:10.4172/2311-3278.1000128 Copyright: © 2015 Azhar G, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Abstract Background: Heart failure continues to be the leading cause of hospital admissions in adults over 65, most commonly due to poor medication compliance, lack of adequate self-care, and inadequate awareness of heart failure. Hospital admissions for heart failure are higher and health literacy is lower in Arkansas than the national average. We surveyed the heart failure knowledge level in the geriatric patients and caregivers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences geriatric out-patient clinic. Methods: 182 individuals responded to an anonymous survey regarding their knowledge of heart failure, including its etiology, risk factors, symptoms, and management. Results: The subjects included patients and caregivers. About half the subjects were older than 70 and the majority were white women. Approximately 70% of the subjects had the incorrect understanding of the term “heart failure” and thought it meant that the heart had actually stopped working. A vast majority of the subjects were unaware that both weight gain and weight loss occurred in heart failure. Approximately one third of the subjects did not understand when medications should be taken for heart failure. Other important causes of CHF such as chemotherapy medications, radiation to the chest and kidney failure and were recognized by less than two-thirds of the respondents as potential causes of cardiac damage. Over 90% of the subjects indicated a desire for greater information and education on heart failure for both patients and caregivers. Conclusions: The changing patterns of healthcare compensations based on factors such as health outcomes, and readmission rates, makes for good sense to pursue all avenues for improvements in patient care in order to maximize the positive results on health outcomes. Congestive Heart Failure Awareness Assessment in a Geriatrics Out- patient Clinic in Central Arkansas $ Gohar Azhar* 1 , $ Sakeena Raza 1 , Syed Ashad Abid 1 , Amanda K Pangle 1 , Amy M Schrader 2 and Jeanne Y Wei 1 1 Department of Geriatrics and Reynolds Institute of Aging, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA 2 Department of Biostatistics, College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA $ both authors contributed equally. associated with failure to recognize/seek help for abnormal signs and symptoms, poor medication compliance, lack of adequate self-care, reduced physical and emotional well-being and decreased utilization of preventive health care services [24-29]. Tis inevitably leads to a greater likelihood of acute exacerbations of chronic health problems like heart failure, frequent emergency room visits, and higher rates of hospital admissions and frequent readmissions [18-23]. We wanted to explore the level of knowledge regarding heart failure among the geriatric patient population and their caregivers at the Tomas Lyon Longevity Out-patient Clinic (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences). A survey was designed to assess the understanding of heart failure, the common causes, risk factors, signs and symptoms, as well as knowledge of common medications used in treatment of heart failure. Te survey also included questions about lifestyle changes, such as diet and exercise, required for managing heart failure and also gauged their knowledge regarding early recognition of signs and symptoms that should prompt immediate medical intervention. J o u r n a l o f R e s e a r c h a n d D e v e l o p m e n t ISSN: 2311-3278 Journal of Research and Development