Heart failure and excess weight often occur in the same person, and excess weight is associated with other conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and metabolic disorders. Therefore, a team of researchers from Cali, Colombia, sought to determine how common excess weight is among patients with heart failure and which characteristics are associated with it.

The researchers studied 300 people with heart failure who were admitted for the first time to a cardiac rehabilitation program at a clinic between June 2022 and May 2023. At the beginning of the program, the team collected sociodemographic and clinical information and assessed factors such as six-minute walking capacity, quality of life, and depressive symptoms using the PHQ-9 questionnaire. The researchers then compared the characteristics of the 148 patients who had excess weight with those of the 152 who did not.

Excess weight was present in 148 participants (49.3%), meaning that nearly half of the people studied were affected. The analysis found a higher likelihood of excess weight among those with high blood pressure, elevated triglyceride levels, or a mild score on the PHQ-9 questionnaire. In contrast, patients younger than 65 years and those with reduced or moderately reduced left ventricular ejection fraction had a lower likelihood of excess weight.

These findings highlight the importance of identifying the conditions associated with excess weight in people with heart failure. According to the authors, this information may help guide personalized prevention and management strategies, as well as early interventions. However, because these are associations, the results do not establish cause-and-effect relationships. In addition, most participants belonged to a middle socioeconomic level and were covered by the contributory healthcare system. Therefore, the findings should be interpreted with caution, and their applicability to other populations may be limited.

To learn more about this study, you can read the full article published in the Revista de Investigación e Innovación en Ciencias de la Salud by following this link: https://doi.org/10.46634/riics.418