Incidence of heart failure in eastern Finland: a population-based surveillance study

Heart failure is a frequent disorder, but there is little population-based data available on its incidence. We have studied the incidence of heart failure in 45-74-year-old inhabitants in four rural communities in eastern Finland (total population 37,600; 11,000 45-74 years of age). The aim was to identify all patients in whom symptoms had started and in whom a diagnosis of heart failure had been established during a 2-year study period. General physicians, working in community health centres in the study area, referred all their patients with suspected heart failure to the study. A register of drug reimbursement, hospital discharge and other health care registers were used to identify patients who had not been referred. The Boston criteria were used to verify the diagnosis. One hundred and thirteen subjects (51 men and 62 women) were enrolled, of whom 51 (38 men and 13 women) had definite heart failure. Age-adjusted incidence rate of heart failure (per 1000 . year-1) was 4.0 in men and 1.0 in women, and the incidence rates increased with age in both sexes. Coronary heart disease or hypertension was evident in 41 (80%) cases. The striking difference in the incidence rates between men and women is probably explained by the excessive occurrence of coronary heart disease among men in eastern Finland.