Background: In older heart failure (HF) patients, survival depends on the severity of their cardiac condition and on their functional status. Lower extremity performance, assessed with the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), predicts survival in older persons, both in epidemiologic and clinical settings. We evaluated whether SPPB predicts long-term survival in older subjects hospitalized for HF, independent of traditional measures of HF severity.
Methods and results: Subjects aged 65+ years were enrolled on discharge after hospitalization for decompensated HF. Participants underwent echocardiography, comprehensive geriatric assessment, and SPPB. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to predict survival over a 30-month follow-up. Of 157 participants (mean age 80 years, range 65-101; 50% men), 61 died. After adjustment for potential confounders, including demographics, ejection fraction, New York Heart Association classification, and comorbidity, we found a graded independent association between SBBP score and mortality risk: compared with an SPPB score of 9-12, scores of 0, 1-4, and 5-8 were associated with hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of death of 6.06 (2.19-16.76), 4.78 (1.63-14.02), and 1.95 (0.67-5.70), respectively.
Conclusions: SPPB is an independent predictor of long-term survival of older subjects hospitalized for decompensated HF.