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Although heart failure is known to be the most common cause of hospitalization in the Medicare-eligible population, epidemiologic studies of heart failure have yielded conflicting results. These authors used a sample of Medicare fee-for-service claims data on patients 65 and older to assess the incidence, prevalence, and risk-adjusted mortality of heart failure from 1994 through 2003.
Among the 622,789 Medicare beneficiaries studied, the incidence of heart failure declined slightly over the study period (from 32.2 per 1000 patient-years to 29.1 per 1000 patient-years). An increase in heart failure incidence in patients aged 65 to 69 was counterbalanced by larger absolute declines in incidence in older age groups. Incidence was substantially …