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Table 1 Studies examining the prevalence of cognitive impairment in patients with heart failure

From: ‘Hearts and minds’: association, causation and implication of cognitive impairment in heart failure

Study

Sample

Population

Median age in years (SD)

Study methodology

Inclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria

CV measures/criteria

Cognitive assessment tool(s) used

Results

Zuccalà 1997 [6]

57 HF pts

Consecutive admissions to hospital

77

Cross-sectional

Not specified

Co-morbid psychiatric or physical illness and previous diagnosis of CI

LVEF (mean EF 45%)

NYHA II-III

MMSE, MDBandRCPM

53% of HF pts showed global CI with MMSE less than 24

Callegari 2002 [7]

64 HF pts, 321 healthy controls

Age <65 years and consecutive admissions to hospital

52 (8)

Cross-sectional

Not specified

Co-morbid psychiatric or neurological illness. Previous diagnosis of CI and female sex

LVEF <50%

Multidomain neuropsychiatric battery

HF pts scored lower than control group in short-term verbal memory, short-term visuospatial memory and visual spatial logical ability

NYHA I-III

Cardiopulmonary testing with treadmill

Right heart catheterisation

Trojano 2003 [8]

149 HF NYHA II pts

Age >65 years and consecutive admissions to hospital

HF NYHA II: 75 (7)

Cross-sectional

Not specified

Co-morbid psychiatric, neurological or physical illness. Previous diagnosis of CI

No measure of LV function

Multidomain neuropsychiatric battery

HF pts scored worse than those without HF in domains of: attention, verbal fluency, verbal learning

159 HF NYHA III/IV

HF NYHA III/IV: 77 (7)

NYHA II-IV

No significant difference between pts with moderate or severe HF

207 non-HF controls

Non-HF controls: 74 (7)

 

Zuccalà 2005 [9]

1,511 HF pts, 11,790 control patients

All geriatric or general medical hospital admissions

79 (9)

Cross-sectional

Not specified

Not specified

HF diagnosis based on discharge documentation

Hodkinson abbreviated mental test

35% of HF pts showed global CI

29% of non-HF pts showed global CI

Feola 2007 [10]

60 HF-REF

Consecutive admissions to hospital

66

Cross-sectional

HF-REF: clinical HF, NYHA II-IV, LVEF ≤50%

Not specified

LVEF

Multidomain neuropsychiatric battery

23% of HF pts showed global CI

12 HF-PEF

HF-PEF: diagnosed based on E/A ratio, deceleration time and LV dilatation

NYHA II-IV

BNP

Debette 2007 [11]

83 HF pts

Consecutive admissions to hospital

62

Cross-sectional

Not specified

Hearing/visual impairment

LVEF <45%

MMSE

61% of HF pts showed global CI

NYHA I-IV

Dodson 2013 [12]

282 decompensated HF pts

Age >65 years and non-consecutive admissions to hospital

80 (8)

Prospective

English speaking

Co-morbid psychiatric illness

HF diagnosis based on documentation in medical records

MMSE

25% of HF pts showed evidence of mild CI 22% of HF pts showed moderate to severe CI

Schmidt 1991 [13]

20 iDCM pts

Age <50 years and ambulatory outpatients only

iDCM: 38 (5)

Cross-sectional

Not specified

Co-morbid psychiatric, neurological or physical illness

LVEF 14-45%

LGT-3 and ALID

Systolic HF pts performed worse than the control group in domains of attention, learning and memory and reaction time

20 healthy controls

Healthy controls: 41 (8)

NYHA II-IV

Grubb 2000 [14]

20 HF pts with CADs

Ambulatory outpatients only

HF: 68

Cross-sectional

Not specified

Co-morbid psychiatric or neurological illness. Previous hospital admission within 6 months

HF: LVEF <40%, NYHA III/IV

RBMT and WMS

No difference between HF pts and control group

20 CAD control

CAD controls: 67

CAD controls: LVEF >55%, no CHF

Riegel 2002 [15]

42 HF pts

Ambulatory outpatients only

75 (12)

Cross-sectional

English speaking

Co-morbid physical or psychiatric illness

No measure of LV function

MMSE and CIMS

29% of HF pts showed evidence of global CI

NYHA I-IV

Vogels 2007 [16]

62 HF pts

Age >50 years and ambulatory outpatients only

HF: 69 (9))

Case control

HF pts: diagnosis of HF >6 months and stable on medication >4 weeks

Co-morbid physical, neurological or psychiatric illness. Previous diagnosis of CI

LVEF <40%

Multidomain neuropsychiatric battery

HF pts scored lower than the healthy control group in all domains

53 CAD controls

CAD controls: 69 (10)

CAD controls: IHD but no clinical CHF and EF >40%

NYHA II-IV

HF pts scored lower than the IHD control group in domains of memory and mental speed

42 healthy controls

Healthy controls: 67 (9

IHD control group scored lower than the healthy control group in language only

Hoth 2008 [17]

31 HF pts

Age >55 years and ambulatory outpatients only

HF: 69 (9)

Cross-sectional

English speaking

Co-morbid physical, neurological or psychiatric illness. Previous diagnosis of CI

LVEF <40%

Multidomain neuropsychiatric battery

Systolic HF pts scored lower than the IHD control group in domains of executive function and cognitive flexibility

31 CAD controls

CAD controls: 69 (9)

Minimum of 8th grade education

NYHA II-IV

CAD controls: angina/previous MI/PCI/PVD and HF excluded on basis of clinical examination

Beer 2009 [18]

31 HF pts

Ambulatory outpatients only

HF: 54 (11)

Case control

Not specified

Co-morbid neurological illness or previous diagnosis of CI

LVEF <40%

Block design, CVLT and 'F,A,S test'

Systolic HF pts scored lower than control group in all cognitive domains

24 healthy controls

Healthy controls: 56 (8)

NYHA II

LWHFQ

Stanek 2009 [19]

40 HF pts, 35 CAD controls

Ambulatory outpatients only

70 (8)

Prospective

English speaking

Co-morbid psychiatric or neurological illness. Previous diagnosis of CI

NYHA II-III

DRS

No difference between systolic HF pts and CAD control patients in all domains

CAD controls: history of MI, CAD, cardiac surgery, hypertension

CO <4 L/minute on echo

Sauvé 2009 [20]

50 HF pts

50 healthy controls

Age >30 years in HF pts and >55 years in controls. Ambulatory outpatients only

HF: 63 (14)

Healthy controls: 63 (14)

Case control

Diagnosis of HF >6 months

Co-morbid psychiatric or neurological illness

LVEF ≤40%

NYHA II-IV

Multidomain neuropsychiatric battery

Systolic HF pts scored lower than control group in domain of verbal memory

Pressler 2010 [21]

249 HF pts

Ambulatory outpatients only

HF: 63 (15)

Cross-sectional

HF: LVEF ≤40% and clinical HF

Co-morbid psychiatric, neurological or physical illness. Previous diagnosis of CI

NYHA

Multidomain neuropsychiatric battery

HF group performed worse than healthy and general medical groups in domains of memory, executive function and psychomotor speed

63 healthy controls

Healthy controls: 53 (17)

Healthy controls: absence of any medical condition or controlled CV risk factors

LVEF

102 general medical pts

Medical group: 63 (12)

Medical group: major chronic disorder other than HF

Bauer 2012 [22]

51 HF-REF, 29 HF-PEF

Age >21 years and ambulatory outpatients only

72 (12)

Cross-sectional

HF-REF: history of HF-REF >6 months, stable on medication >4 weeks, LVEF ≤40%

Co-morbid psychiatric, neurological or physical illness. Previous diagnosis of CI

LVEF

Multidomain neuropsychiatric battery

HF-REF and HF-PEF pts performed worse than age- and educated-adjusted healthy control groups in executive function, attention, language, memory and psychomotor speed

HF-PEF: history of HF-PEF >6 months, stable on medication >4 weeks, LVEF >41%

NYHA

Festa 2011 [23]

169 HF-REF, 38 HF-PEF

Age >17 years and ambulatory outpatients only

69

Retrospective

On medical treatment for HF

Co-morbid neurological illness

LVEF

Multidomain neuropsychiatric battery

Low EF was associated with poor memory in pts over 63 years old

Haemodynamically stable

Pts <63 years old had preserved memory function regardless of EF.

Not receiving mechanical circulatory support

Steinberg 2011 [24]

55 HF pts

Ambulatory outpatients only

55 (8)

Cross-sectional

Stable clinical status

Co-morbid neurological or physical illness. Previous diagnosis of CI

LVEF ≤45%

Multidomain neuropsychiatric battery

44% of HF pts showed evidence of global CI

NYHA I-III

6 minute walk test

Jefferson 2011 [25]

1,114 pts from Framingham Heart Study

Age >40 and <89 years and ambulatory outpatients only

67 (9)

Cross-sectional

Not specified

Co-morbid neurological illness or previous diagnosis of CI

LVEF

Multidomain neuropsychiatric battery

U-shaped association between LVEF and cognitive performance

Cardiac MRI

Miller 2012 [26]

140 HF pts

Age >50 and <85 years and ambulatory outpatients only

69 (9)

Cross-sectional

English speaking

Co-morbid psychiatric or neurological illness

No measure of LV function

Multidomain neuropsychiatric battery

62% of HF pts showed evidence of global CI

No NYHA classification

2 minute step test

Almeida 2012 [27]

35 HF pts

Age >45 years and ambulatory outpatients only

HF: 69 (9)

Cross-sectional

HF: EF <40%, clinical HF ≥6 months, English speaking, NYHA I-III

Co-morbid psychiatric, neurological or physical illness. Previous diagnosis of CI

LVEF

Multidomain neuropsychiatric battery

HF pts scored lower than the healthy control group in domains of immediate/long-term memory and psychomotor speed

56 CAD controls

CAD controls: 67 (10)

CAD controls: previous MI, English speaking, EF ≥60%, no clinical HF

NYHA

No difference between the HF group and IHD control group in cognition

64 healthy controls

Healthy controls: 69 (11)

Healthy controls: English speaking, no previous MI/angina, EF ≥60%

 

Hawkins 2012 [28]

251 HF pts

Ambulatory outpatients only

66 (10)

Cross-sectional

English speaking

Co-morbid psychiatric illness. Previous diagnosis of CI

LVEF ≤40%

Multidomain neuropsychiatric battery

58% of HF pts had CI with poor scores in the domains of verbal learning and verbal memory

Bratzke-Bauer 2013 [29]

47 HF-REF

Age >50 years and ambulatory outpatients only

HF-REF: 75 (9)

Cross-sectional

History of HF >6 months

Co-morbid psychiatric, neurological or physical illness. Previous diagnosis of CI

LVEF

Multidomain neuropsychiatric battery

23% of the HF-REF cohort showed evidence of CI

33 HF-PEF

HF-PEF: 68 (15)

Stable on medication ≥4 weeks

NYHA

3% of the HF-PEF cohort showed evidence of CI

HF-PEF based on AHA criteria

Huijts 2013 [30]

491 HF-REF

Age >60 years and ambulatory outpatients only

77 (8)

Prospective

HF-REF: hospitalization within past year

Co-morbid physical illness

HF-REF: LVEF <45%, NYHA II-IV, NT-proBNP >400 pg/ml

AMT

8% of HF-REF group showed evidence of severe CI (AMT ≤7)

120 HF-PEF

HF-PEF: NT-proBNP ≥400 pg/ml if pt <75 years or ≥800 pg/ml if pt ≥75 years

HF-PEF: LVEF ≥45%

13% of HF-PEF group showed evidence of severe CI (AMT ≤7)

Kindermann 2012 [31]

20 decompensated HF pts

Decompensated HF: non-consecutive admissions to hospital

Decompensated HF: 60 (16)

Prospective

Decompensated HF: caused by ischaemic or DCM, symptomatic HF for ≥6 months, clinical signs of decompensation, for example, raised JVP

Co-morbid psychiatric, neurological or physical illness. Previous diagnosis of CI

LVEF <45%

Multidomain neuropsychiatric battery

Decompensated HF group scored lower than stable HF group in domains of memory, executive control and processing speed

20 stable HF pts

Stable HF: outpatients

Stable HF: 61 (17)

Stable HF pts: CHF of ischaemic or DCM, NYHA III-IV, no clinical signs/history of decompensation for ≥3 months

NYHA III/IV

Stable HF group scored lower than the healthy control group in domains of intelligence and episodic memory

20 healthy controls

Healthy controls: 62 (15)

  1. AHA, American Heart Association; ALID, adjective list of Janke and Debus; AMT, Abbreviated Mental Test; BNP, brain natriuretic peptide; CAD, coronary artery disease; CHF, congestive heart failure; CI, cognitive impairment; CIMS, complex ideational material subset; CO, cardiac output; CV, cardiovascular; CVLT, California Verbal Learning Test; DCM, dilated cardiomyopathy; DRS, Disability Rating Scale; E/A ratio, ratio of mitral peak velocity of early filling (E) to mitral peak velocity of late filling (A); EF, ejection fraction; HF, heart failure; HF-REF, heart failure-reduced ejection fraction; HF-PEF, heart failure-preserved ejection fraction; iDCM, idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy; IHD, ischaemic heart disease; JVP, jugular venous pressure; LGT-3, Lern und Gedachtnistest; LV, left ventricular; LVEF, left ventricular ejection fraction; LWHFQ, Living With Heart Failure Questionnaire; MDB, mental deterioration battery; MI, myocardial infarction; MMSE, Mini-Mental State Examination; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; NT-pro BNP, N-terminal prohormone brain natriuretic peptide; NYHA, New York Heart Association; pts, patients; PCI, percutaneous coronary intervention; PVD, peripheral vascular disease; RBMT, Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test; RCPM, raven coloured progressive matrices; SD, standard deviation; WMS, Weschler Memory Scale.