Association between phase angle and one-year heart failure rehospitalization and all-cause mortality in patients with heart failure.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Phase angle (PhA) reflects cellular health and nutritional status. Although PhA has been linked to mortality in various populations, its prognostic value for heart failure (HF), especially rehospitalization, remains unclear. This study investigated the association between PhA and the composite outcome of HF rehospitalization and all-cause mortality after discharge in patients hospitalized for acute HF.

METHODS

Patients hospitalized with HF who underwent rehabilitation during hospitalization. The primary outcome was a composite of HF rehospitalization and all-cause mortality within one year. Associations were evaluated with multivariate Cox proportional hazards models. Receiver operating characteristic analysis determined the optimal PhA cut-off. The cumulative incidence of the composite outcome and all-cause mortality were estimated using Kaplan-Meier analysis with log-rank tests. For HF rehospitalization, the cumulative incidence was calculated using Gray's test, with death as a competing risk.

RESULTS

The one-year incidence of the composite outcome was 23.3 % (n = 97) among the 417 patients. In multivariate models, PhA independently predicted the composite outcome (hazard ratio: 0.74; 95 % confidence interval: 0.55-0.99, p = 0.048). The optimal PhA cut-off was 3.8. Patients with PhA <3.8 had significantly higher rates of HF rehospitalization (p = 0.033), composite outcomes (p = 0.001), and all-cause mortality (p = 0.002).

CONCLUSIONS

In patients with HF, PhA assessed during hospitalization was significantly associated with HF rehospitalization and all-cause mortality within one year. These findings support PhA as a useful biomarker for prognostic assessment in clinical practice.