Abstract 3230: Elevated Glucose and Mortality in Patients Hospitalized with Heart Failure

Background: While some professional societies recommend target-driven blood glucose (BG) control for all hospitalized patients, the association between elevated BG and adverse outcomes has not been well established in patients hospitalized with heart failure (HF). Methods: We evaluated a nationally representative cohort of 50,532 patients hospitalized with HF between 04/1998 – 06/2001. Admission BG was analyzed as a categorical variable (≤110, >110 –140, >140 –170, >170 –200, >200 mg/dL), and in 10 mg/dL increments. The association between BG and all-cause mortality over 30 days and 1 year was analyzed using Cox regression, both in the entire cohort and in patients with and without diabetes (DM). Results: After multivariable adjustment, there was no significant relationship between BG and 30-day mortality (for BG >110 to 140, >140 to 170, >170 to 200, and >200, hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals were: 1.09 (0.98 –1.22), 1.27 (1.11–1.45), 1.16 (0.98–1.37), 1.00 (0.87–1.15) respectively vs. BG ≤110, P for linear trend 0.53). Results were similar for 1-year mortality, and did not differ between patients with and without DM (P values for DM*BG interaction 0.11 and 0.55 for 30-day and 1-year mortality respectively). A lack of association between BG and mortality over 30-days and 1-year was also observed when BG was analyzed in 10mg/dL increments (Figure ). Conclusions: We found no significant association between BG and mortality in a large cohort of hospitalized HF patients. While the impact of BG lowering on outcomes cannot be determined based on this study, our findings do not support resource-intensive interventions for BG monitoring and management in this patient group.