Emergency admissions for heart failure – contacts per 1,000 inhabitants, 75 years and older
Discussion
Nationally, the number of emergency admissions for heart failure among the elderly increased from nearly 5,800 in 2015 to approximately 8,300 in 2025, an increase of 43%. The rates also increased over the period. The number of emergency admissions for heart failure per 1,000 elderly also increased from 14.7 in 2015 to 16.5 in 2025.
Throughout the period, there are moderate geographic differences in the rates. Helse Sør-Øst consistently had the highest rates, with a clear upward trend, while Helse Nord had the lowest rates. The rates in the other regions lie between these, close to the national average.
In several catchment areas, there has been considerable year-to-year variation in rates during the period 2015-2025. In 2025, residents in the St. Olav catchment area had the highest number of acute admissions for heart failure per 1,000 elderly. The rate in the St. Olav catchment area in 2025 was nearly double that of the Møre and Romsdal catchment area.
The gender distribution has changed between 2015 and 2025. The proportion of women was highest in 2015 at 52%, and then showed a gradual decline over the period. After remaining relatively stable at around 50% until 2019, the proportion fell below 50% from 2020 and continued to decrease steadily. In 2025, the proportion of women had decreased to 46%, which overall indicates a clear downward trend over the ten-year period.
The analysis is based on activity data from the Norwegian Patient Register (NPR) for somatic specialist health services. The data includes activity in public hospitals that provide publicly funded services.
The sample consists of emergency inpatient contacts for patients aged 75 years or older, with a primary diagnosis (ICD-10) I11.0, I13.0, I13.2, I50.0, I50.1 og I50.9. To avoid systematic bias resulting from routine transfers between hospitals, transfers have been taken into account. If the admission for one hospital stay occurs less than eight hours after the discharge from a previous stay, the two hospital stays have been combined and counted as one.
The place of treatment is divided into two categories:
- Local public, treated at one of the hospitals in the catchment area
- Other public, treated at a public hospital outside the catchment area
In order to compare the catchment areas and between years, the rates have been adjusted for gender and age. The adjustment was done using the direct method with the country's population in 2023 as the reference population.
In graphs with patient‑aggregated data, the numbers are adjusted to avoid double‑counting patients. The actual number of patients is therefore higher when looking at a single variable for a focus area. For example, patients who have received both private and public treatment during a year are counted only once in total, which means that the number of patients in private treatment will be underreported.
SKDE is solely responsible for the interpretation and presentation of the data provided by NPR. FHI/NPR is not responsible for analyses or interpretations based on the data.