Heart Failure - Epidemiology

Epidemiology

Mostly as a result of the costs of hospitalization, it is associated with a high health expenditure; costs have been estimated to amount to 2% of the total budget of the National Health Service in the United Kingdom, and more than $35 billion in the United States. Heart failure is associated with significantly reduced physical and mental health, resulting in a markedly decreased quality of life. With the exception of heart failure caused by reversible conditions, the condition usually worsens with time. Although some people survive many years, progressive disease is associated with an overall annual mortality rate of 10%.

Heart failure is the leading cause of hospitalization in people older than 65. In developed countries, the mean age of patients with heart failure is 75 years old. In developing countries, two to three percent of the population suffers from heart failure, but in those 70 to 80 years old, it occurs in 20—30 percent.

Heart failure affects close to 5 million people in the USA and each year close to 500,000 new cases are diagnosed. What is of more concern is that more than 50% of patients seek re-admission within 6 months after treatment and the average duration of hospital stay is 6 days.

In tropical countries, the most common cause of HF is valvular heart disease or some type of cardiomyopathy. Moreover as underdeveloped countries become more affluent, there has also been an increase in diabetes, hypertension and obesity which has resulted in heart failure.

In USA, HF is much higher in African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and recent immigrants from the eastern bloc countries like Russia. This high prevalence in these ethnic populations has been linked to high incidence of diabetes and hypertension. In many new immigrants to the USA the high prevalence of heart failure has largely been attributed to lack of preventive health care or substandard treatment.