FREQUENCY OF HEART FAILURE PATIENTS RECEIVING INFLUENZA VACCINE

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the frequency of heart failure (HF) patients receiving influenza vaccine. Methodology: This descriptive cross-sectional study included both male and female patients with diagnosis of heart failure in last five years having age between 18 to 75 years visiting to Adult Cardiology Department, inpatients or outpatients, of National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), Karachi, Pakistan. All the demographic and clinical data were recorded on a predefined and validated questionnaire. Results: Among 334 heart failure patients 23 (6.9%) were vaccinated. The average age was 62.3 ± 5.95 years, 26 (7.8%) study subjects have age of <50 years, 239 (71.6%) study subjects were male, in which 13 (5.4%) vaccinated as against 10 (40.5%) among female patients (p=0.09). The average duration of heart failure was 3.4 ± 1.6 years. The average number of previous hospitalization was 3.5 ± 2.1 times. A total of 236 (70.7%) subjects were from urban areas and 98 (29.3%) patients were from rural areas in which vaccination rate was 17, 7.2% vs. 6, 6.1%; p=0.001 respectively. Conclusion: In conclusion, the vaccination uptake rate in cases of HF was very poor in our population. It was observed to be positively associated with younger age, duration of HF, education level, and household monthly income.