AUTHOR=Agrawal Akshat , Scardino Brooke , Xing Diensn G. , Bhuiyan Md. Shenuarin , Bevins Rick A. , Modi Kalgi , Helmy Tarek , Conrad Steven A. , Goeders Nicholas E. , Bhuiyan Md Mostafizur Rahman , Vanchiere John A. , Orr A. Wayne , Kevil Christopher G. , Bhuiyan Mohammad Alfrad Nobel 

TITLE=Hospitalized patients and stimulant use-associated heart failure: importance of ejection fraction and related risk factors

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine

VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cardiovascular-medicine/articles/10.3389/fcvm.2025.1566481

DOI=10.3389/fcvm.2025.1566481

ISSN=2297-055X

ABSTRACT=BackgroundMethamphetamine and cocaine use are known risk factors for heart failure (HF). Previous studies focused on HF cases identified as either methamphetamine or cocaine-induced HF with no study identifying the HF subtype most associated with stimulant use. Our study hypothesizes that stimulant users have a higher odds of developing HFrEF than HFpEF. Our study also compares demographic and comorbidities between the HF subtypes.MethodsNational Inpatient Sample data from 2008 to 2020 were used to identify hospital admissions among stimulant users with HF. The chi-square test for categorical variables and t-test for continuous variables was used for the weighted sample. P-value was found by linear trend analysis. The trend stratified by age, sex, race, and United States region (defined by the US Census Bureau) was analyzed by the Cochran-Armitage trend test. A generalized linear model determined the HF subtype related to stimulant use adjusted for traditional risk factors, and another model estimated vulnerable patient characteristics.ResultsStimulant use was more likely to be associated with HFrEF (OR = 1.97, CI 1.93–2.01), while less associated with HFpEF (OR = 0.96, CI 0.94–0.98). HF among stimulant users was common (p < 0.001) in males, those aged 41–64, Black patients, Medicaid users, those in the <50 percentile income, and the South or West regions. Stimulant-related HF hospitalizations increased significantly from 2008 to 2020 for all subcategories (p < 0.001).  ConclusionStimulant use is positively associated with HFrEF, with the highest risk being in those middle-aged, male, Black, or covered by Medicaid. The higher likelihood of traditional risk factors for HF in stimulant-related HF supports the hypothesis that stimulants induce multifactorial damage to the cardiovascular system.