Epidemiology of heart failure in France

Background: Heart failure (HF) prevalence may increase because of population ageing and has become a major public health issue in European countries.

Aim: To update the epidemiology of HF in France in 2022.

Methods: Adults hospitalized for HF in 2022 were identified in the National Health Data System (SNDS) and followed up for 1year. The first stay of the year was taken as the index hospitalization. The prevalence of HF was estimated by combining hospitalization data and patients with 100% coverage for a long-term disease associated with HF. Patients and their hospital stays were described on the basis of the sociodemographic and medical information in the SNDS.

Results: In 2022, 181,178 adults were hospitalized for HF in France, which equates to a crude rate of 339.3 per 100,000 inhabitants, and 1,376,692 prevalent cases of HF were recorded, which is an estimated prevalence of 2.6% in the adult population. For people living in the most socioeconomically deprived municipalities, the rate of hospitalization was 1.6 times higher than for those living in the least deprived municipalities. The departments of Haut-de-France and Réunion Island, and some departments in Normandy and the Grand-Est had much higher rates than others. The fatality rate was 10.2% in hospital, and 34.0% at 1year. Only 20.1% of patients were admitted to a rehabilitation unit within 6months, and 47.9% of patients alive at 1year were being treated with a combination of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin II receptor blockers and beta-blockers.

Conclusions: The large number of people hospitalized for HF, and the fact that rates vary across the different French departments, means that more ambitious general cardiovascular prevention measures are needed, and that healthcare provision needs significant adaptation. Short-term patient outcomes could be improved by following recommendations more closely and taking into account patients' social circumstances.