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ArticleBMC cardiovascular disorders2026

Iron deficiency in primary care patients with heart failure: a cross-sectional study of the heart failure in Southern Sweden (HISS) cohort.

Fredrik Vinge, Oscar Braun, Moa Wolff, J Gustav Smith, Kristina Sundquist, Veronica Milos Nymberg

Registry-linked trialAbstract readMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Article in BMC cardiovascular disorders, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04129658 (Heart Failure in Southern Sweden - Improving the Quality of Diagnosis and Treatment Through a Educational Intervention in Primary Care), which is not on this map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT04129658 completednot on this map

Heart Failure in Southern Sweden - Improving the Quality of Diagnosis and Treatment Through a Educational Intervention in Primary Care

Typeobservational_patient_registrySponsorRegion SkaneRan2021 to 2024Enrolled563ConditionsHeart Failure,Congestive, Drug Use, Patient CareArmsEducational outreach visit
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Fredrik VingeCenter for Primary Health Care Research, Department of Clinical Sciences Malmö, Lund University, Jan Waldenströms gata 35, Malmö, 214 28, Sweden. fredrik.vinge@med.lu.se.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0007-9498-1573
Oscar BraunDepartment of Cardiology, Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University and Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden.
Moa WolffCenter for Primary Health Care Research, Department of Clinical Sciences Malmö, Lund University, Jan Waldenströms gata 35, Malmö, 214 28, Sweden.
J Gustav SmithDepartment of Cardiology, Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University and Skåne University Hospital, Lund, Sweden.
Kristina SundquistCenter for Primary Health Care Research, Department of Clinical Sciences Malmö, Lund University, Jan Waldenströms gata 35, Malmö, 214 28, Sweden.
Veronica Milos NymbergCenter for Primary Health Care Research, Department of Clinical Sciences Malmö, Lund University, Jan Waldenströms gata 35, Malmö, 214 28, Sweden.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIron deficiency is a common and clinically relevant comorbidity in heart failure, associated with reduced functional capacity, higher symptom burden, and increased hospitalisation risk. Most evidence on iron deficiency in heart failure originates from hospital-based cohorts, whereas the epidemiology and clinical implications in primary care populations remain poorly described. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of iron deficiency among primary care patients with heart failure in southern Sweden and to examine its association with symptom severity.

methodsThis cross-sectional analysis used baseline data from the Heart Failure in Southern Sweden study, a prospective intervention project conducted at 20 primary health care centres. Adult patients with heart failure across all left ventricular ejection fraction categories were included. Iron deficiency was defined as transferrin saturation < 20%.

resultsIn total, 466 primary care patients with heart failure were included, of whom 124 (26.7%) had iron deficiency. Symptom severity was higher in patients with iron deficiency: 35.5% were classified as New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III-IV, compared with 18.7% among patients without iron deficiency. Similar findings were observed in the subgroup with left ventricular ejection fraction below 50%, where 25.2% had iron deficiency and 42.6% were classified as NYHA III-IV compared with 18.4% among patients without iron deficiency. In multivariable analysis adjusting for clinically relevant covariates, iron deficiency remained associated with NYHA class III-IV (OR 1.97, 95% CI 1.18-3.31, p = 0.010).

conclusionsIron deficiency is common among patients with heart failure managed in primary care and remained associated with higher symptom burden after adjustment for prespecified covariates. These findings highlight the potential clinical relevance of assessment of iron status in primary care.

trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04129658. Registered on 15 October 2019.

Indexed as

Anemia, Iron-DeficiencyHeart FailureIronIron DeficienciesPrimary Health CareAgedAged, 80 and overBiomarkersComorbidityCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPrevalenceProspective StudiesBiomarkersIronTransferrinHeart failureIron deficiencyPrevalencePrimary careSymptom burden

Identifiers

PMID42399800
PMCPMC13332607

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.