The prevalence, clinical characteristics, and prognosis of diastolic heart failure: A clinical study in elderly saudi patients with up to 5 years follow-up

Data from 519 patients older than 65 years with congestive heart failure (CHF) were analyzed after 5 years of clinical follow-up. Two groups were included in the analysis: 321 patients with ejection fractions ≥50% (group with diastolic heart failure) and 198 patients with reduced ejection fraction <50% (group with systolic heart failure). Hypertension (81%) was the strongest predictor of congestive heart failure, followed by diabetes (46%) and coronary disease (33%). Diastolic heart failure was more predominant in elderly female (P = .007), hypertensive (P = .0001), and hypertrophic (P = .001) patients. Length of hospital stay, readmission rate, all-cause morbidity, and cumulative mortality were not statistically significant between both groups (P = .09).