Physicians' guideline adherence is associated with long-term heart failure mortality in outpatients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction: the QUALIFY international registry.

Background Physicians’ adherence to guideline-recommended therapy is associated with short-term clinical outcomes in heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). However, its impact on longer-term outcomes is poorly documented. In this analysis we assessed the longer-term association of physicians’ adherence with clinical outcomes, including mortality and unplanned hospitalisations, at 18-month follow-up of the QUALIFY registry (Clinical trial registration ISRCTN87465420) Method and results Data at 18 months were available for 6118 ambulatory HFrEF patients from this international prospective observational survey. Adherence was measured as a continuous variable, ranging from 0…