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AHA Scientific Sessions 2026 Abstract

Lower mobility linked to worse outcomes in heart failure

The lowest mobility group had a higher risk of readmission or death within one year than the highest group, with a hazard ratio of 1.65.

Paper by Diego Ramonfaur, Delaney Ryan, Amanda Ruth Vest, +7 more authorsTrejeeve M Martyn · Cleveland Clinic
A heart cross-section stands between gray figures standing beside a hospital bed and blue-green figures walking with longer strides.

Our read

Biomarkers
Studied:
Cohort study of 20,733 adults hospitalized with heart failure, against the highest mobility quintile (Multicenter)
What changed:
Readmission or death was higher in the lowest mobility group than the highest (hazard ratio 1.65)
The catch:
More severe illness could explain poorer mobility and worse outcomes despite adjustments

Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News

Paper
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Among 20,733 adults hospitalized with heart failure, lower mobility before discharge was linked to more readmissions or deaths over the following year in an observational study. Patients came from 12 hospitals in Ohio and Florida. The most common age group was 65–89.

Physical therapists used the six-item 6-Clicks assessment to rate independence in movement, from 6 for worst function to 24 for best. The analysis accounted for age, sex, kidney function and other health factors. Compared with the highest-scoring fifth, the lowest-scoring fifth had a hazard ratio—a measure of relative risk over time—of 1.65 for readmission or death. Higher mobility scores were linked to lower risk across groups with different measures of the heart’s pumping strength.

Why it matters

For older adults with heart failure, mobility assessments may help assess the outlook after hospitalization alongside measures of heart function.

Caveats

Poorer mobility may have reflected more severe illness that the adjustments did not fully capture. These conference-abstract findings concerned hospitalized adults with heart failure and excluded people with amyloid protein buildup in the heart, mechanical heart support or a heart transplant.

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