【論文摘要】The Balance Ability in Elderly With Heart Failure

【論文摘要】老年心臟衰竭患者的平衡能力

陳仲瑩(Chung-Yin Chen) ； 陳孟謙(Meng-Chien Chen) ； 林盈禎(Ying-Chen Lin) ； 徐翠文(Tsui-Wen Hsu) ； 黃啟宏(Chi-Hung Huang)

《物理治療》 44卷4期 (2019/12) Pp. 288-289

https://doi.org/10.6215/FJPT.201912.P03

摘要

Background and Purpose: Fall is one of the most important factor in causing hospital admission or death in older adults. Congestive heart failure (CHF) was common chronic disease in elderly. CHF patients have typical symptoms (e.g., breathlessness, ankle swelling, and fatigue) may be resulting poor balance ability and increasing fall risk. However, the past studies related to CHF in elderly focus on muscle strength, cardiopulmonary function and quality of life, there were no studies exploring the relationship about CHF and falls in elderly. The aims of this study were to assess the balance ability in the elderly with CHF using Berg Balance Scale (BBS), to realize balance skill and to prevent the fall risk in different stage with CHF in elderly. Methods: This study included 32 elderly patients with CHF in cardiology department in Cathay General Hospital. WHO Quality of Life- BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) was used to assess quality of life, BBS to assess balance status and falls risk. The relationship between BBS variables was analyzed by Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal wallis test and Spearman’s correlation. Result: Lower BBS score significantly associated with older age (p = 0.033), advanced New York Heart Association (NYHA) class (p = 0.002), and hypertension (p = 0.014) in CHF patients. Significant positive bivariate correlation was found between BBS score and WHOQOL-BREF score (p = 0.002). No significant differences were observed in the heat rate, LVEF, and haemoglobin. Conclusion: This study concluded that the elderly CHF patients with more advanced NYHA class had lower BBS scores. Clinical Relevance: Our results provide important information that these patients have the higher risk of falling and worse quality of life. Suggesting that patients should be received early rehabilitation intervention and balance training to decrease the risk.