Prevalence of heart failure in Australia: a systematic review.

Berhe W Sahle,Christopher M Reid,Henry Krum,Mutsa P Mutowo,Alice J Owen

doi:10.1186/s12872-016-0208-4

Berhe W Sahle, Christopher M Reid + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12872-016-0208-4

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Abstract

BackgroundIn the absence of a systematic collection of data pertaining to heart failure, summarizing the data available from individual studies provides an opportunity to estimate the burden of heart failure. The present study systematically reviewed the literature to estimate the incidence and prevalence rates of heart failure in Australia.MethodsStudies reporting on prevalence or incidence of heart failure published between 1990 and 2015 were identified through a systematic search of Embase, PubMed, Ovid Medline, MeSH, Scopus and websites of the Australian Institute of Health, and Welfare and Australian Bureau of Statistics.ResultsThe search yielded a total of 4978 records, of which thirteen met the inclusion criteria. There were no studies reporting on the incidence of heart failure. The prevalence of heart failure in the Australian population ranged between 1.0 % and 2.0 %, with a significant proportion of cases being previously undiagnosed. The burden of heart failure was higher among Indigenous than non-Indigenous Australians (age-standardized prevalence rate ratio of 1.7). Heart failure was prevalent in women than men, and in rural and remote regions than in the metropolitan and capital territories.ConclusionThis systematic review highlights the limited available data on the epidemiology of heart failure in Australia. Population level studies, using standardized approaches, are needed in order to precisely describe the burden of HF in the population.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12872-016-0208-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Highlights

In the absence of a systematic collection of data pertaining to heart failure, summarizing the data available from individual studies provides an opportunity to estimate the burden of heart failure
The present study systematically reviewed the literature to estimate the incidence and prevalence rates of heart failure in Australia
Our findings indicate that the prevalence of Heart failure (HF) in the Australian population ranges from 1.0–2.0 %, and varies by Indigenous status, gender, age, and geographic location

Summary

Introduction

In the absence of a systematic collection of data pertaining to heart failure, summarizing the data available from individual studies provides an opportunity to estimate the burden of heart failure. The present study systematically reviewed the literature to estimate the incidence and prevalence rates of heart failure in Australia. Public health policy on tobacco control, improvements in surgical treatment and the widespread use of lipid and blood pressure-lowering drugs have resulted in a significant decline in the burden of major cardiovascular diseases [5,6,7,8]. Despite these improvements, the burden of diabetes and obesity in the population has steadily increased over time [7]

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