Occurrences of impaired activities of daily living (ADL) are common in heart failure (HF) patients and contribute to the elevated mortality and hospitalization rates in this population. Cognitive impairment is also prevalent in HF, though its ability to predict functional decline over time is unknown.

This study examined the longitudinal pattern of activities of daily living (ADL) in HF persons and whether reduced baseline cognitive status predicts functional decline in this population.

Altogether 110 persons with HF completed the Lawton-Brody Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) scale and were administered the Modified Mini-Mental Status Examination (3MS) at baseline and a 12-month follow-up. Three composite scores were derived from the Lawton-Brody scale, including total, instrumental, and basic ADL.

HF patients reported high rates of baseline impairments in instrumental ADL, including shopping, food preparation, housekeeping duties, laundry, among others. Repeated measures analyses showed significant declines in total and instrumental ADL from baseline to the 12-month follow-up in HF (p<0.05). Hierarchical regression analyses showed that poorer baseline performance on the 3MS predicted worse total ADL performance at 12-months (β=0.15, p=0.049), including greater dependence in shopping, driving, feeding, and physical ambulation (p<0.05 for all).

The current results show that HF patients report significant functional decline over a 12-month period and brief cognitive tests can identify those patients at highest risk for decline. If replicated, such findings encourage the use of cognitive screening measures to identify HF patients most likely to require assistance with ADL tasks.