Could Pragmatic Clinical Trials be Effective in the Management of Patients with Heart Failure?

Abstract

Pragmatic Clinical Trials (PCT) seem to be popular nowadays and can be used to test the effectiveness of health interventions avoiding the restrictions associated with traditional explanatory randomized clinical trials. The pragmatic methodology design is promising for chronic diseases like Heart Failure (HF) and comorbidities. HF has been mentioned as the most malignant type of Cardiovascular-Disease (CVD) and has the same aggravation of symptoms and survival rates, as the most types of cancer [1,2]. It is a syndrome characterized by symptoms that persist; breathlessness, fatigue and swelling of ankles. All these symptoms affect the Health-Related Quality of Life (HR-QoL) and the ability of the patients to maintain self-care management [3-5]. HF in diabetic patients is an important health problem and DM is a major risk factor in HF and vice versa [6,7]. HF and DM most of the time occur together, aggravating each condition and exacerbates patient outcomes [8,9].