Data from 519 patients older than 65 years with congestive heart failure (CHF) were analyzed after 5 years of clinical follow-up. Two groups were included in the analysis: 321 patients with ejection fractions > or =50% (group with diastolic heart failure) and 198 patients with reduced ejection fraction <50% (group with systolic heart failure). Hypertension (81%) was the strongest predictor of congestive heart failure, followed by diabetes (46%) and coronary disease (33%). Diastolic heart failure was more predominant in elderly female (P=.007), hypertensive (P=.0001), and hypertrophic (P=.001) patients. Length of hospital stay, readmission rate, all-cause morbidity, and cumulative mortality were not statistically significant between both groups (P=.09).