Why the study?
Heart failure risk factors such as smoking, diabetes, and obesity are prevalent in Greenland, yet the prevalence of heart failure remained unexplored.
The prevalence of heart failure in Greenland is 1.1%, comparable to other high-income countries, but occurs at a younger age and is strongly associated with obesity and smoking rather than ischemic heart disease.
HF prevalence data from Greenland support surveillance; leaves open cardiometabolic drivers beyond IHD in Arctic populations.
Heart Failure (HF) constitutes a significant burden for healthcare around the world. In Greenland, risk factors like smoking, diabetes, and obesity are prevalent. Yet, the prevalence of HF remains unexplored. This register-based cross-sectional study uses data from the national medical record in Greenland to estimate the age- and gender-specific prevalence of HF and to describe the characteristics of patients with HF in Greenland. A total of 507 patients (26% women) with a mean age of 65 years were included based on a diagnosis of HF. The overall prevalence was 1.1% and higher among men compared to women (1.6% vs. 0.6%, p < 0.05). The highest prevalence was among men above 84 years (11.1%). More than half (53%) had a body mass index above 30 kg/m2 and 43% were current daily smokers. The proportion diagnosed with ischaemic heart disease (IHD) was 33%. The overall prevalence of HF in Greenland is consistent with that in other high-income countries, yet high among men in some age groups, compared to Danish men. Almost half the patients were obese and/or smokers. A low prevalence of IHD was observed indicating that other factors may play a role in developing HF among Greenlanders.
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Larsen et al. (2023) studied this question.
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