NEW ORLEANS — The total number of hospitalizations for cardiovascular events and procedures in the United States declined by 17% during the first 6 years of this decade, according to data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project's Nationwide Inpatient Sample.
Hospitalizations for coronary heart disease fell by an age- and sex-adjusted 24% from 2000 to 2005, while stroke-related hospitalizations declined by 18%. Meanwhile, heart failure admissions remained essentially constant, Craig S. Roberts, Pharm.D., reported at the annual scientific sessions of the American Heart Association.
The rate of elective coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery plummeted by 46%. The total number of CABG procedures decreased by 40% from more than 385,500 performed in 2000.
In contrast, primary angioplasties increased by over 13%, from 2.2 per 1,000 persons in 2000 to 2.5 in 2005, while the elective angioplasty rate remained flat over that period, according to Dr. Roberts of Pfizer Inc. in New York.
The total cardiovascular hospitalization rate was 13.8 per 1,000 in 2000, dropping to 11.5 in 2005.
The nearly 3.4 million total cardiovascular hospitalizations in 2005 were more than 704,000 fewer than in 2000.
Coronary heart disease hospitalizations declined from 3.3 to 2.5 per 1,000 during 2000-2005. Stroke-related hospitalizations dropped from 2.0 to 1.7 per 1,000. The heart failure hospitalization rate was 3.8 per 1,000 at the beginning of the decade and 3.7 in 2005.
The cardiovascular hospitalization decreases were consistent from year to year and were similar in men and women across all age groups.