Temporal Trends of Hospital Admissions Due to Heart Failure in Brazil

Abstract

Background

Heart failure is a global pandemic that causes a significant reduction in quality of life, with an impact on hospital expenses. It is important to know the temporal trends of hospitalizations and mortality in order to outline coping strategies.

Objective

The objective of this study was to describe the temporal trends of hospitalizations due to heart failure and mortality during hospitalizations between 2000 and 2021 in Brazil.

Methods

We conducted a study on temporal trends in the rates of hospitalization and mortality during hospitalization, using data from the Department of Information Technology of the Brazilian Unified Health System, by means of joinpoint regression. We calculated the annual percentage change of the rates with respective 95% confidence intervals and alpha significance level of 0.05.

Results

We analyzed 2,851,437 hospitalizations in men and 2,749,424 hospitalizations in women between 2000 and 2021 in Brazil. Regarding hospitalization rates, there was an annual percentage decrease of 6.7% to 8.1% in men and a decrease of 7.5% to 8.3% in women. With respect to mortality rates, there was an annual percentage increase of 1.8% to 3.6% in men and an increase of 3.1% to 3.5% in women.

Conclusion

We observed a decrease in the rates of hospitalization due to heart failure and an increase in the mortality rates in all age ranges assessed, in both sexes, between 2000 and 2021 in Brazil. These findings may reflect better disease control and hospitalization only for more severe cases, but we emphasize the need for continued management of risk factors for the disease.