Daily weighing: Only a small percentage of heart failure patients are complying with crucial advice to weigh themselves every day to assess whether they are retaining fluids, a factor which could precipitate their hospitalisation or even death.
That is one of the main findings of a new study which looked at the habits of patients living with heart failure in the Dublin region.
Prof Hannah McGee of the department of psychology at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), who will present the findings at the RCSI annual research day tomorrow, said that in people with heart failure the heart starts to become less efficient as a pump and this results in patients building up fluid in their system.
"You could put on a few kilos in a couple of days from liquid retention. This puts pressure on all your internal organs including the heart, liver, lungs and kidneys," she said. If people did not keep track of their weight, and in this way keep an eye on fluid retention, they could be putting their lives in danger, she said.
"It is dangerous . . . the less strain put on a heart that is already struggling to cope the better," she said.
Of 100 patients surveyed as part of this study, only 16 per cent weighed themselves every day and only 39 per cent reported unusual weight gain to their doctors, which was "worryingly low", Prof McGee said.
The study also found that 7 per cent of patients were not adhering to their medication. However, 93 per cent of the patients reported taking medication as prescribed.
Research is ongoing to try to identify why these patients are not monitoring their weight. Prof McGee said it may be that patients are not told clearly enough why they need to weigh themselves. It may also be that patients do not have weighing scales or that if they are obese or have poor sight that they can't see the scales when they stand on them, she said.
In addition to research to find out the causes of these patients not weighing themselves, a study of another 100 patients with heart failure in the north is being undertaken so that comparisons can be made between the care of these type of patients north and south.
Up to 15,000 people in the Republic are living with heart failure. These patients could include those who have had heart attacks and heart bypass operations.
"There has been a huge increase in numbers of patients living with heart failure in the country as a result of statins and successful bypass surgery," Prof McGee said. "It's important they are managed correctly but most of the management is up to the patients themselves," she said.
Meanwhile, a range of other studies will also be presented at the RCSI research day, including one from the department of surgery at Connolly Hospital, Dublin, which has found that persistent hiccupping is a common but previously unrecognised symptom of oesophageal cancer.
Researchers surveyed the presenting symptoms of 99 oesophageal cancer patients and found 27 per cent had complained of persistent hiccupping, in 6 per cent of cases hiccupping was the initial reason to consult their GP and in a further 9 per cent it was the predominant ongoing symptom.