Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators: expectations in the Brazilian elderly.
By 2025, Brazil will have the sixth largest elderly population in the world. Thirty percent of the elderly currently have private health insurance and 70% have their health care paid for by the Unified Health System. The system, founded through a governmental entity, provides free health service to all citizens. In 2003, the government passed the Elderly Statement Law, claiming that the elderly have equal access to prevention, promotion, protection, and recovery of health. In spite of the high costs, the placement of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) in the elderly is growing. There is a significant regional difference in the number of ICD placements, and there is also a significant sex bias: 73% of the ICDs were placed in elderly men. The majority of ICDs were placed in the elderly from ages 65 to 79 years. Nevertheless, 9.5% of ICDs were placed in octogenarians and nonagenarians, reflecting the valuation of biologic age rather than chronologic age.
Gravina
Claudia F
CF
Dante Pazzanese Institute of Cardiology, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, Avenida Dr Dante Pazzanese, 500 São Paulo, Brazil. clau-gravina@hotmail.com
Garcez-Leme
Luiz Eugênio
LE
Deckers Leme
Mariana
M
Piegas
Leopoldo
L
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy; D017147:Defibrillators, Implantable / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans