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Presentation

Session: Posters
Room: TBA
Time: Fri 13:00-14:30

Presenter: Till Neumann (University Hospital Essen . Clinic of Cardiology)

Abstract

Background: Heart failure is increasingly common and places a high economic burden on health care systems. 1% to 2% of the health expenditures in western industrialized countries and about 1.1% in Germany emerge from heart failure. At present it is the leading diagnosis for hospital admissions in Germany. Since heart failure is associated with older age, this health care problem will increase with the increasing longevity of our population. This appraisal assesses regional differences, cost of illness, and the expected rate of increase in heart failure cases within the next years by population ageing.
Methods: Calculation basis are data of the diagnosis statistics, cause-of-death statistics, and cost of illness statistics, as reported by the German Federal Statistical Office. Age- and sex-specific differences are taken into account.
Results: In 2006, heart failure became the leading diagnosis for hospital admissions in Germany (317,000). One year later, there was a further increase of 5% up to 335,000 admissions per year. Today, about 141,000 individuals in Germany at or above an age of 80 years are living with heart failure. Until 2050, it is expected that this group will exceed a number of 350,000. In addition to morbidity, heart failure has also a relevant impact on mortality rates. In Germany heart failure is the third most frequent cause of death after the leading cause chronic ischemic heart disease and acute myocardial infarction. The overall expenditure for heart failure amounted to 2.9 Bn. Euros in 2006. Inpatient hospital services accounted for a major part of these costs: inpatient and day-patient facilities determined 1.7 Bn. Euros, which is 60% of the overall health expenditure for heart failure. Most of this related to hospital admissions (1.3 Bn. Euros, 45% of total costs), followed by nursing homes (407 M. Euros) and rehabilitation facilities required a low proportion of the costs (11 M. Euros).
Conclusions: These findings reveal that heart failure has become more common as an admission diagnosis of hospitalized patients than any other cardiac and non-cardiac disease. Because of the demographic change and the demonstrated further rise of heart failure admissions, new concepts for prevention and treatment are necessary in the near future to provide continued adequate care to the affected patients. These results based on the German health economic system, but the growing age in many countries makes these results transferable to other nations.

Key Terms

heart failure, cost of illness, population ageing

Authors:

Till Neumann (University Hospital Essen. Clinic of Cardiology) , Janine Biermann (University Hospital Essen. Clinic of Cardiology) , Anja Neumann (University of Duisburg-Essen. Chair for Medical Management) , Jürgen Wasem (University of Duisburg-Essen. Chair for Medical Management) , Georg Ertl (University of Würzburg. Medical Clinic I) , Rainer Dietz (Charité, University Hospital Berlin. Clinic of Cardiology) and Raimund Erbel (University Hospital Essen. Clinic of Cardiology)

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