Approved Research

Defining patterns of comorbidity accrual before and after the diagnosis of heart failure

Lay summary

Heart failure (HF) is a condition where the heart is unable to pump enough to meet the needs of the body, which leads to fatigue, breathlessness on exertion, and reduced life expectancy. People with HF often have many other health problems (or 'comorbidities'), which can develop before and after HF is diagnosed. The greater the number of these comorbidities a person with HF has, the poorer their quality of life and long-term survival. Currently, our knowledge is very limited regarding how these comorbidities develop over the lifetime of someone with HF. UK Biobank is an excellent resource to study this as it includes many thousands of people with heart failure, along with detailed information about when they developed other health problems, their wider characteristics (e.g. sex, ethnicity), and their long-term survival. As part of a student project (Masters by Research), we plan to study the pattern and timing of comorbidity development in relation to when people are first diagnosed with heart failure. This will help us to find the commonest patterns of comorbidity development before and after HF, along with learning about the outcomes of these people in these groups. This information will help us to identify groups of people where we might one day aim to intervene to slow or prevent comorbidity development, with a view to improving their quality and quantity of life.