Summary

  • There are no Australian data on the incidence and prevalence of heart failure in Australia. Based on overseas findings, it is estimated that at least 300,000 Australians have chronic heart failure (or about 4% of the population aged 45 or more), with 30,000 new cases diagnosed each year.
  • Two major barriers in determining the incidence and prevalence of heart failure in Australia are the lack of a universally agreed definition and difficulties in diagnosis, particularly when the condition is mild.
  • In the past decade rates of hospitalisation and deaths from heart failure have fallen for both men and women. Similar trends are also occurring overseas.
  • Despite these trends in the total population, rates of hospitalisation and deaths from heart failure among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples remain two to three times higher than among other Australians.
  • An ageing population, improved survival from heart attack and the increased prevalence of diabetes and obesity may increase the number of people with heart failure in the future. By contrast, recent falls in the incidence of heart attack and continuing improvements in blood pressure control may stem the expected increase.
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