title: Epidemiology of heart failure.
abstract: Analysis of 34 years of follow-up of Framingham Study data provides clinically relevant insights into the prevalence, incidence, secular trends, prognosis, and modifiable risk factors for the occurrence of heart failure in a general population sample. Heart failure was found to be highly prevalent, affecting about 1% of persons in their 50s and rising progressively with age to afflict 10% of persons in their 80s. The annual incidence also increased with age, from about 0.2% in persons 45 to 54 years, to 4.0% in men 85 to 94 years, with the incidence approximately doubling with each decade of age. Women lagged slightly behind men in incidence at all ages. Male predominance was because of a higher rate of coronary heart disease, which confers a fourfold increased risk of heart failure. Heart failure, once manifest, was highly lethal, with 37% of men and 33% of women dying within 2 years of diagnosis. The 6-year mortality rate was 82% for men and 67% for women, which corresponded to a death rate fourfold to eightfold greater than that of the general population of the same age. Sudden death was a common mode of exitus and accounted for 28% of the cardiovascular deaths in men and 14% in women with heart failure. Hypertension and coronary disease were the predominant causes for heart failure and accounted for more than 80% of all clinical events. Factors reflecting deteriorating cardiac function were associated with a substantial increase in risk of overt heart failure. These include low vital capacity, sinus tachycardia, and ECG evidence of left ventricular hypertrophy.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Boston University School of Medicine, Framingham, MA 01701.
authors.forename: W B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Kannel
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Belanger
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000453:epidemiology; D003645:Death, Sudden / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008404:Massachusetts / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors