Mortality from heart failure in an English population, 1979–2003: study of death certification
- 1Unit of Health-Care Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, University of Oxford, UK
- 2Department of Primary Care, University of Oxford
- Correspondence to: Professor M J Goldacre Unit of Health-Care Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, University of Oxford, Old Road Campus, Oxford, OX3 7LF, UK; michael.goldacredphpc.ox.ac.uk
- Accepted 1 April 2005
Abstract
Objective: It is widely held that there will be an epidemic of heart failure in Europe and North America as a result of increased survival from myocardial infarction and other coronary heart disease. The study objective was to discover if the decline in mortality from coronary heart disease has been accompanied by a rise in mortality from heart failure in the study population.
Design: Analysis of database of mortality records including all certified causes of death, not just the underlying cause, from 1979–2003.
Setting: Former Oxford NHS Region, England.
Patients: Data from death certificates of all who died in the population covered.
Main results: Mortality rates for heart failure fell at very similar rates as those from coronary heart disease. In men, the average annual fall in mortality from coronary heart disease was −2.7% (95% confidence intervals −2.8 to −2.5) and that from heart failure was −2.9% (−3.2 to −2.5). In women, the average annual fall in mortality from coronary heart disease was −2.3% (−2.6 to −2.1) and that from heart failure was −2.6% (−3.0 to −2.3).
Conclusions: The decline in mortality from coronary heart disease has not been accompanied by a rise in mortality from heart failure. A future epidemic of heart failure, as a consequence of the decline in mortality from coronary heart disease, seems unlikely.
Footnotes
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Funding: the Unit of Health-Care Epidemiology is funded by the NHS National Centre for Research Capacity Development.
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Conflicts of interest: none declared.
