Aim: Heart failure is a common and serious condition requiring extensive health care resources. The aim of this study is to estimate the total treatment costs of heart failure in Sweden.
Methods and results: The study is a prevalence-based cost-of-illness study. It includes costs of institutional care (hospitals and nursing homes), outpatient care, surgery and drugs. The costs are estimated based on official Swedish statistics, and on various clinical and epidemiological studies. The results are expressed in 1996 prices. The total annual treatment costs for heart failure are approximately Swedish kronor (SEK) 2000-2600 million, or nearly 2% of the Swedish health care budget. Institutional care is the single largest component, amounting to SEK 1300-1900 million, or about 65-75% of the costs of heart failure treatment.
Conclusions: The results from this study indicate that heart failure is a costly condition. Efforts to develop effective management programmes that can reduce the need for expensive institutional care, without a negative impact on quality of life, morbidity and mortality, should be given high priority.