Characteristics of emergency department admissions with congestive heart failure in the United States: a Nationwide cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: To understand the characteristics and clinical presentation of patients with Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) visiting the emergency department (ED), and to examine the factors associated with clinical outcomes and medical resource utilization amongst the studied population. METHODS: We analyzed the 2014–2016 ED visit data collected by the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey Emergency Department Subfile. We described patients’ characteristics and clinical outcomes after ED visits with CHF vs. without CHF. Logistic regression models were used to estimate the association between these characteristics and CHF. RESULTS: ED visits with CHF visits represented 3.9% of annual ED visits (3,647,113 out of 92,899,685). ED patients with CHF were mostly non-Hispanic White (69.9%). Compared with other ED patients, those with CHF were older, including 71.2% that were were older than 60. ED patients with CHF were more likely to be admitted to the hospital (aOR: 2.56; 95% CI: 2.28–2.87) and intensive care unit (ICU) (aOR: 2.19; 95% CI: 1.77–2.71). CONCLUSIONS: This study describes the demographic, socioeconic, and clinical characteristics of patients who present to the ED with CHF through analysis of a comprehensive national survey. These patients require a higher level of emergency care due to their higher chance of admittance to the hospital and ICU. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12873-021-00564-7.