Ten‐Year Secular Trends for Congestive Heart Failure Hospitalizations: An Analysis of Regional Differences in the United States

Abstract

This study used data from the National Hospital Discharge Survey to examine secular trends and regional variation in hospitalization rates for congestive heart failure. The hospitalization rate for congestive heart failure rose significantly between 1995 and 2004 for adults aged 35 to 64 years. This trend was particularly marked in the West region (from 10.3 per 10,000 population in 1995 to 17.0 per 10,000 population in 2004; P<.001) and the South region (from 21.9 per 10,000 population in 1995 to 27.6 per 10,000 population in 2004; P<.001). The regional variations for congestive heart failure hospitalization among adults aged 35 to 64 years were associated with primary care physicians per 10,000 population, regional income level, and the proportion of Medicare payment.

Divergent Trends in Survival and Readmission Following a Hospitalization for Heart Failure in the Veterans Affairs Health Care System 2002 to 2006

“…Our observation that rehospitalization rates are flat or increasing is also consistent with most trend studies including U.S. Medicare (10) and non-U.S. studies (15,17). Other data from U.S. male physicians (11) and data from Minnesota (14) report a stable incidence of heart failure, and recent data from the National Hospital Discharge Survey indicate a slight increase in hospitalization rates from 1995 to 2004 (18). Other outcome studies of hospitalized heart failure patients (19 -21) have noted higher mortality rates.…”

Racial and Ethnic Differences in Trajectories of Hospitalization in US Men and Women With Heart Failure

“…These regional variations are not necessarily incongruent with recent research5, 10, 16, 54 and the reasons for the discrepancy are presumably 2‐fold. First, the HRS followed hospitalizations from a prospective cohort of adults and did not include hospitalizations for patients with newly incident HF.…”

Geographic Disparities in Heart Failure Hospitalization Rates Among Medicare Beneficiaries

“…One recent study examined regional differences in HF hospitalization rates among the 4 main regions of the U.S. (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West) (8), and another recent study published HF readmission rates among Medicare beneficiaries using hospital referral regions as the unit of analysis (9). However, we believe there have been no published studies of county-level HF hospitalization rates.…”