Abstract

Background - Heart failure costs Americans billions of dollars a year and takes a toll on the patients afflicted by the disease. Recent changes in how healthcare systems and providers are reimbursed have motivated them to find new ways to prevent heart failure readmission. There is no cure for heart failure so healthcare providers try to help patients manage their symptoms. Physical activity is one of the interventions healthcare providers recommend for their patients in the management of heart failure. The Physical Activity Vital Sign is a tool that can be quickly administer and has significant validity. Objective - The purpose of our research is to determine if physical activity, as measured by the Physical Activity Vital Sign, influences 30-day heart failure readmissions. Methods - A retrospective chart review was used to evaluate patients' charts that had a heart failure admission between January 1, 2016 and August 31, 2018. We used multiple regression to analyze how the Physical Activity Vital Sign predicts 30-day heart failure readmission rates, while controlling for age, sex, race, ejection fraction, body mass index, length of hospital stay, brain natriuretic peptide, and compliance with the heart failure core measures. Results - Data was analyzed from 270 heart failure admissions in the study period. The average duration of moderate intensity PA was 20.9 minutes per week; just less than three minutes per day on average. A Pearson Correlation matrix illustrated significant relationships between some of the independent variables. Multiple linear regression demonstrated p=0.376, which was statistically insignificant. Conclusions - The study did not find a significant relationship between physical activity, as measured by the Physical Activity Vital Sign, and heart failure readmissions but physical activity remains important in managing heart failure.

Degree

College and Department

Nursing; Nursing

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