Abstract Background:

Heart failure (HF) is the final pathway of most cardiac diseases. Although the prevalence of HF has increased, due to the ageing of the population, more comprehensive data have shown a reduction in the percentage of HF hospital admissions over the last years.

Objective:

Assess the morbidity and mortality of HF patients in Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul and Porto Alegre.

Method:

The study is a retrospective analysis of data from the Brazilian Unified Health System's (Sistema Único de Saúde [SUS]) Department of Informatics (DataSUS). We evaluated the incidence of HF hospital admissions, the average length of stay, hospital costs and sex ratio, during a ten-year period (2007 to 2016). Due to availability of the system, mortality rate and age range, the total duration of the study was nine years.

Results:

Within this period, the percentage of hospitalizations for HF decreased. On the other hand, the length of stay increased in all regions studied. Mortality rates were in decline in all regions. Hospital costs showed an increase of 110.8%. HF was more prevalent in patients between the seventh and eighth decades of life, with men being more affected than women, except in Rio Grande do Sul.

Conclusion:

We conclude that, in spite of the high costs of HF to healthcare providers, hospitalizations and mortality rates have shown a significant decline over the last years, which results from the advances in the treatment of this disease, through initiatives to improve patient education, engagement and planning in health care and self-care.