BCN HEALTH presents in Seville a study on the economic burden of heart failure in Europe within the STRATIFYHF project

BCN HEALTH presented the results of the study “Economic burden of heart failure in Europe: A systematic review of costs and cost-effectiveness” in Seville June 18, during the Annual Conference of the Spanish Health Economics Association (AES). The study was recently published in the journal ESC Heart Failure.

The study examines the economic burden of heart failure in Europe through a systematic literature review, aiming to assess the costs associated with the diagnosis, treatment, and management of this condition across different European healthcare systems. Heart failure affects more than 64 million people worldwide and is one of the leading causes of hospitalization and mortality, particularly among the elderly population.

The review included 49 studies published between 2000 and 2024, identifying substantial variability in annual disease-related costs, which ranged from €613 to €22,647 per patient depending on the country, disease severity, and healthcare resources used. Hospital admissions emerged as the main cost driver, accounting for between 15% and 92% of the total expenditure associated with heart failure. In addition, strategies such as telemonitoring, multidisciplinary care programs, and certain pharmacological interventions were found to contribute to reducing hospitalizations and emergency department visits, thereby improving healthcare system efficiency.

The findings highlight the need to implement more integrated care models and risk stratification tools to optimize the management of patients with heart failure, particularly in a context of increasing healthcare pressure and an ageing population.

This study is part of the European project STRATIFYHF, funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe programme, grant agreement No. 101080905.