Print Print
CKS is no longer commissioned by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). NICE remains committed to providing a replacement service for CKS and is currently reviewing its options. In the meantime, although CKS content is now not being maintained, it still remains relevant and will continue to be made available. CKS content was generated under a programme of topic creation and update. To check if the topic you are viewing is current or out of date, please refer to the topic publication details by clicking on the 'How up-to-date is this topic?' link in the left hand menu on individual topic pages.

Heart failure - chronic - Background information
How common is it?

  • The prevalence of heart failure increases with age — very slowly until about 65 years of age, and then rapidly. For example, in the UK, the prevalence of heart failure is estimated to be about [British Heart Foundation, 2008a]:
    • 1% for people 45–64 years of age.
    • 3% for people 65–74 years of age.
    • 7% for people 75–84 years of age.
    • 20% for people 85 years of age or older.
  • Men are more likely than women to have heart failure, but because there are more older women than older men, there are more women with heart failure.
  • Heart failure accounts for about [National Clinical Guideline Centre for Acute and Chronic Conditions, 2010]:
    • 2% of all hospitalized bed-days.
    • 5% of all medical emergency admissions.
  • On average, a GP will look after 30 people with heart failure and will suspect a new diagnosis of heart failure in perhaps 10 people annually [National Clinical Guideline Centre for Acute and Chronic Conditions, 2010].
  • Nearly half the people with heart failure have preserved left ventricular ejection fraction [Sanderson, 2007]. The proportions reported in epidemiological studies vary from 40–70%, but these values are difficult to interpret because the studies used various definitions of heart failure and different thresholds for classifying ejection fraction as reduced or normal.

© NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement