Mortality Due to Heart Failure and Socioeconomic Development in Brazil Between 1980 and 2018

Background: Studies on mortality from heart failure (HF) in Brazil and in the country's Geographic Regions (GRs) are scarce.

Objective: To analyze the temporal progression of HF mortality rates by sex and age group in Brazil and its GRs and Federative Units (FUs) from 1980 to 2018, and the associations between mortality rates at each FU and the Municipal Human Development Index (MHDI).

Methods: Time series analysis of deaths due to HF categorized by sex and age groups in Brazil and Brazilian GRs and FUs from 1980 to 2018. Death and population data were obtained from the DATASUS for estimation of crude and standardized mortality rates per 100,000 inhabitants (direct method, Brazilian population in the year 2000). We calculated the 3-year moving averages of the standardized rates. The MHDIs of the FUs in 1991 and 2010 were obtained from Atlas Brasil and were correlated with mortality rates using Pearson's correlation at a 5% significance level.

Results: Mortality due to HF decreased in Brazil after 2008, reaching a similar level at the end of 2018 in the GRs and FUs, and was higher in men during almost all periods and age groups, except for those over the age of 60 years after 1995 in the South region. There was an inverse relationship between MHDI and reduction in mortality rates (0.73).

Conclusion: There was a progressive reduction in mortality rates due to HF in Brazil from 2008 to 2018, with similar levels in 2018 in the GRs and FUs and higher rates in men. These reductions appear to be related more to the 2010 MHDI than the percentage increase over time.