title: Prevalence of heart failure in Australia: a systematic review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  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.
  
  
  METHODS
  Studies 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.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This 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.
authors: Centre of Cardiovascular Research and Education in Therapeutics, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, 99 Commercial Road, Melbourne, Vic, 3004, Australia. berheph@gmail.com.|School of Public Health, Mekelle University, Mekelle, Ethiopia. berheph@gmail.com.
authors: Berhe W
authors: BW
authors: Sahle
authors: Centre of Cardiovascular Research and Education in Therapeutics, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, 99 Commercial Road, Melbourne, Vic, 3004, Australia. alice.owen@monash.edu.
authors: Alice J
authors: AJ
authors: Owen
authors: School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. mutsa.mutowo@monash.edu.
authors: Mutsa P
authors: MP
authors: Mutowo
authors: Centre of Cardiovascular Research and Education in Therapeutics, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, 99 Commercial Road, Melbourne, Vic, 3004, Australia. henry.krum@monash.edu.
authors: Henry
authors: H
authors: Krum
authors: Centre of Cardiovascular Research and Education in Therapeutics, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, 99 Commercial Road, Melbourne, Vic, 3004, Australia. chris.reid@monash.edu.|School of Public Health, Curtin University, Perth, Australia. chris.reid@monash.edu.
authors: Christopher M
authors: CM
authors: Reid
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*