[A survey of medical therapies for chronic heart failure in primary hospitals in China].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the current medicine therapy of CHF in primary hospitals in China, and to propose the improvement ways.
METHODS: Physicians from 2066 primary hospitals in 17 areas of China completed investigating questionnaires about their medicine therapy of CHF. 2100 pieces of valid questionnaires were collected totally. Input all the data to computer 2 times and check up repeatedly till to be sure that there were no mistakes in the database, then to make statistics analysis by the SPSS soft kit.
RESULTS: The current medicine therapy of CHF in primary hospitals in China was not optimal: the use rate of large dosage digitalis (defined as oral digitalis > or = 0.25 mg/d) was 10 percent; the use rate of beta-blocker and ACEI (angiotensin-II converting enzyme inhibitors) was still low (40% and 80%, respectively); the use rate of the target dose of beta-blocker and ACEI were even lower (1% and 2%, respectively), in some underdeveloped areas they were zero; but in some developed areas the current medical therapy of CHF was better.
CONCLUSIONS: It is imperative to improve the current medicine therapy of CHF in primary hospitals in China. The first step might be to let more doctors who work in primary hospitals be familiar with "Guideline of CHF" and could practise it in clinic; the second one might be to open Out-patient Heart Failure Clinics in primary hospitals in order to that patients could be followed up regularly, so that to amend the current state.