Abstract:

Objective To understand the correlation between red blood cell distribution width（RDW） and heart failure（HF） in British population，and to provide new clues for the prevention and early diagnosis of HF. Methods The data from 466 420 UK Biobank participants，excluding those with the following prevalent diseases at baseline：HF，atrial fibrillation，myocardial infarction and angina pectoris，were collected. Patients with HF were defined using the International Classification of Diseases，10th edition，and diagnosis codes were I11.0，I130，I132 and I50. According to the quarters of RDW，they were classified into Q1（RDW<12.90%），Q2（RDW 12.90%-13.32%），Q3（RDW 13.33%-13.84%） and Q4（RDW≥13.85%） groups. Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportion hazard regression analysis were used to analyze the influence of RDW on the incidence of HF. Results During the follow-up period，a total of 5 362 HF patients were enrolled，with an incidence rate of 1.43‰，a male incidence rate of 2.05‰ and a female incidence rate of 0.93‰. Multivariate stepwise regression showed that sex，age，body mass index，blood pressure，Townsend deprivation index，smoking，healthy diet score and diabetes mellitus history were independent risk factors for HF. After adjusting the above variables，RDW was independently associated with the risk of HF [Q1 was used as control；Q2：hazard ratio（HR）=1.10，P=0.19；Q3：HR=1.24，P<0.05；Q4：HR=1.94，P<0.01]. Conclusions Elevated RDW is associated with an increased risk of developing HF and may be a potential early predictor of HF.

Key words: Red blood cell distribution width, Heart failure, Cohort study, British population