Impact Analysis of Heart Failure Across European Countries: An ESC-HFA Position Paper
Giuseppe Rosano, Petar Seferović, Gianluigi Savarese, Ilaria Spoletini, Yu. M. Lopatin, Finn Gustafsson, Antoni Bayés‐Genís, Tiny Jaarsma, Magdy Abdelhamid, Arantxa González, Massimo Piepoli, Carlo G. Tocchetti, Arsen Ristić, Ewa A. Jankowska, Brenda Moura, Loreena Hill, Gerasimos Filippatos, Marco Metra, Davor Miličić, Thomas Thum, Ovidiu Chioncel, Tuvia Ben Gal, Lars H. Lund, Dimitrios Farmakis, Wilfried Müllens, Stamatis Adamopoulos, Michael Böhm, Anna Norhammar, Andreas Bollmann, Amitava Banerjee, Aldo P. Maggioni, Adriaan A. Voors, Alain Cohen Solal, Andrew J.S. Coats
Abstract
Heart failure (HF) is a long-term clinical syndrome, with increasing prevalence and considerable healthcare costs that are further expected to increase dramatically. Despite significant advances in therapy and prevention, mortality and morbidity remain high and quality of life poor. Epidemiological data, that is, prevalence, incidence, mortality, and morbidity, show geographical variations across the European countries, depending on differences in aetiology, clinical characteristics, and treatment. However, data on the prevalence of the disease are scarce, as are those on quality of life. For these reasons, the ESC-HFA has developed a position paper to comprehensively assess our understanding of the burden of HF in Europe, in order to guide future policies for this syndrome. This manuscript will discuss the available epidemiological data on HF prevalence, outcomes, and human costs-in terms of quality of life-in European countries.