Epidemiology of heart failure in Germany: a retrospective database study

Abstract

BackgroundChronic heart failure (HF) is associated with significant healthcare expenditure, morbidity, and mortality. This study investigated the epidemiology of HF in Germany.MethodsThis retrospective study used anonymous healthcare claims data from the German Health Risk Institute on individuals with statutory health insurance. Patients with uninterrupted data from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2013 or death (whichever occurred first), and ≥2 recorded HF-related diagnoses in 2011, were included. Patients with newly diagnosed HF were identified. Patients were followed up for 2 years from first diagnosis.ResultsOf 3,132,337 eligible patients, 123,925 (55.0% women; mean age 76.2 years) had HF: a prevalence of 3.96%. Of these, 26,368 had newly diagnosed HF: an incidence of 655/100,000 persons at risk. Incidence increased with age and was similar regardless of sex. During follow-up, there were 48,159 hospital admissions among newly diagnosed patients (1.8 hospitalizations/patient/2 years); HF accounted for 6% of these. Additionally, 20,148 patients (16.3%) overall and 5983 newly diagnosed patients (22.7%) died. Most new cases of HF were diagnosed by office-based physicians (63.2%); new cases among hospital inpatients were predominantly diagnosed by internal medicine specialists (70.7%). Overall, 94.0% received their initial prescription for HF treatment from a family practitioner.ConclusionsThe high prevalence and incidence observed in this representative sample emphasize the burden of HF in Germany. Substantial hospitalization rates and mortality highlight the need for early diagnosis and appropriate treatment, and for close cooperation between physician specialties and healthcare sectors.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00392-017-1137-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Retrospective analysis into differences in heart failure patients with and without iron deficiency or anaemia

“…Compared with DEGAM 3 and Störk et al 4 (3956.3 per 100 000), our study shows that the prevalence of HF has significantly increased over the last years. Compared with DEGAM 3 and Störk et al 4 (3956.3 per 100 000), our study shows that the prevalence of HF has significantly increased over the last years.…”

“…2 Approximately 800 000 to 1 600 000 individuals of the German population are affected by HF 3 with a prevalence of 3956.3 per 100 000 and an incidence of 270-655 per 100 000 4 and differ among federal states in Germany. These symptoms might be accompanied by signs of elevated jugular venous pressure, pulmonary crackles, and peripheral oedema.…”

Underestimated prevalence of heart failure in hospital inpatients: a comparison of ICD codes and discharge letter information

“…Most of them, however, based their algorithm on coded diagnoses [6]. Because of these reasons, a better and earlier recognition of heart failure patients is of utmost importance [7]. Since modern hospitals can provide a wealth of electronic patient-based information, this data may be used to improve or corroborate diagnostic certainty and comprehensiveness.…”

A cross‐cultural comparison of the roles of emotional intelligence, metacognition, and negative coping for health‐related quality of life in German versus Pakistani patients with chronic heart failure

“…CHF affects circa 26 million individuals worldwide (Ambrosy et al, 2014) and is a major reason for hospitalization and morbidity (Ambrosy et al, 2014), particularly in the elderly (Christ et al, 2016). In Germany, the point prevalence (2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013) of CHF has been estimated to be 3.96% (St€ ork et al, 2017). In the Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar Pakistan, the percentage of CHF patients comprised 14.75% and 22.87% of all cardiac patients in 2008 and 2010, respectively (Noor et al, 2012).…”