Prevalence of self‑reported heart failure in the adult Polish population: Results of the NATPOL 2011 study

Abstract

INTROduCTION Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a growing medical and economic problem, especially in Central and Eastern Europe. However, only a few studies analyzed the prevalence of CHF in this region. ObjECTIvEs The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of CHF in a representative sample of adult Poles. PATIENTs ANd mEThOds The NATPOL 2011 project was a cross‑sectional study of a representative sample of the adult Polish population that included 2413 individuals (1245 women, 1168 men) aged 18 to 79 years (mean [SD] age, 45.8 [16.7] years). All participants completed a detailed questionnaire and underwent laboratory tests. We evaluated the prevalence of CHF based on self‑reported symptoms, Pol‑ ish National Health Fund database, and the N‑terminal pro–B‑type natriuretic peptide (NT‑proBNP) level. REsuLTs The proportion of patients that reported the diagnosis of CHF was 4.3% (95% CI, 3.6%–5.2%). Only 0.2% of people aged under 40 years reported CHF, compared with 3.2% of those aged 40 to 59 years and 13.2% of those aged 60 to 79 years. The distribution of NT‑proBNP levels in the patients with CHF was markedly skewed to the right, with the median value of 181 pg/ml (interquartile range, 90.8–531). Among the 104 individuals who declared having CHF, almost 56% had a record of at least 1 outpatient visit or hospitalization related to the ICD‑10 I50 code in the National Health Fund database, which translates to 2.4% of confirmed diagnoses of CHF in all Polish adults. CONCLusIONs The results of our study indicated that the proportion of inhabitants of Poland aged 18 to 79 years with heart failure was somewhere between 2.4% and 4.3%. This corresponds to 720 000 to 1200 000 of diagnosed CHF cases in Poland.