Heart Failure in Community‐Dwelling Older Persons: Aims, Design and Adherence Rate of the ICARe Dicomano Project: An Epidemiologic Study

Abstract

There were 864 older persons eligible for the ICARe study. Even with a substantial decline from home interview (91.2%) to the cardiopulmonary study (71.1%), the adherence rate remained high throughout the study, and the population examined was fairly representative of the original eligible population. Thus, we believe that the data collected in this study offer a unique opportunity to assess the validity of the diagnostic clinical criteria for HF in the general older population, to identify the pathophysiology underlying the syndrome, and to investigate the relationship between HF, comorbidity, and disability.