Comparison of patients rehospitalized for heart failure with versus without a history of habitual alcohol consumption.

Alcohol paradoxically is known to have a protective and a deleterious effect on the heart. The effect of alcoholism on the growing problem of heart failure (HF) readmissions is not known. This study addressed this issue with a population of adult patients (>20 years old) who were readmitted for HF within 30 days after a hospitalization for HF at a university hospital in West Texas for a period of 5 years. Of the 204 patients with HF who were readmitted, 130 were admitted for HF exacerbations and 74 for unrelated medical conditions. Seventy-two (55%) were men, and the patients' mean age was 67 ± 15 years. Only 32 patients (24%) had a history of alcoholism. The mean age was significantly lower in patients with a history of alcoholism than in those without (62 ± 11 vs. 67 ± 15 years; P = 0.03), and there were more men in the group with a history of alcoholism (78% vs. 52%; P = 0.006). The mean ejection fraction was significantly lower in patients with a history of alcoholism than in those without (35 ± 19% vs. 39 ± 16%, P = 0.04). The length of stay was slightly longer in patients with a history of alcoholism, although the difference was not statistically significant (6 ± 5 vs. 5 ± 4 days; P = 0.52). Although alcohol contributed to only less than one quarter of hospital admissions, these patients were relatively younger and were predominantly males, compared to the sex-matched distribution of patients without a history of alcoholism.