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Aims To evaluate the burden of cardiovascular risk factors and disease (CVD) among five Asian groups living in Catalonia (Spain): Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Filipino, and Chinese. Methods and results Retrospective cohort study using the Catalan Health Surveillance System database including 42 488 Pakistanis, 40 745 Chinese, 21 705 Indians, 9544 Filipinos, and 6907 Bangladeshis; and 5.3 million native individuals (‘locals’). We estimated the age-adjusted prevalence (as of 31 December 2019) and incidence (during 2019) of diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, obesity, tobacco use, coronary heart disease (CHD), cerebrovascular disease, atrial fibrillation, and heart failure (HF). Bangladeshis had the highest prevalence of diabetes (17.4% men, 22.6% women) followed by Pakistanis. Bangladeshis also had the highest prevalence of hyperlipidaemia (23.6% men, 18.3% women), hypertension among women (24%), and incident tobacco use among men. Pakistani women had the highest prevalence of obesity (28%). For CHD, Bangladeshi men had the highest prevalence (7.3%), followed by Pakistanis (6.3%); and Pakistanis had the highest prevalence among women (3.2%). For HF, the prevalence in Pakistani and Bangladeshi women was more than twice that of locals. Indians had the lowest prevalence of diabetes across South Asians, and of CHD across South Asian men, while the prevalence of CHD among Indian women was twice that of local women (2.6% vs. 1.3%). Filipinos had the highest prevalence of hypertension among men (21.8%). Chinese men and women had the lowest prevalence of risk factors and CVD. Conclusions In Catalonia, preventive interventions adapted to the risk profile of different Asian immigrant groups are needed, particularly for Bangladeshis and Pakistanis.

The shortage of recently approved vaccines against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has highlighted the need for evidence-based tools to prioritize healthcare resources for people at higher risk of severe coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Although age has been identified as the most important risk factor (particularly for mortality), the contribution of underlying comorbidities is often assessed using a pre-defined list of chronic conditions. Furthermore, the count of individual risk factors has limited applicability to population-based “stratify-and-shield” strategies. We aimed to develop and validate a COVID-19 risk stratification system that allows allocating individuals of the general population into four mutually-exclusive risk categories based on multivariate models for severe COVID-19, a composite of hospital admission, transfer to intensive care unit (ICU), and mortality among the general population. The model was developed using clinical, hospital, and epidemiological data from all individuals among the entire population of Catalonia (North-East Spain; 7.5 million people) who experienced a COVID-19 event (i.e., hospitalization, ICU admission, or death due to COVID-19) between March 1 and September 15, 2020, and validated using an independent dataset of 218,329 individuals with COVID-19 confirmed by reverse transcription—polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), who were infected after developing the model. No exclusion criteria were defined. The final model included age, sex, a summary measure of the comorbidity burden, the socioeconomic status, and the presence of specific diagnoses potentially associated with severe COVID-19. The validation showed high discrimination capacity, with an area under the curve of the receiving operating characteristics of 0.85 (95% CI 0.85–0.85) for hospital admissions, 0.86 (0.86–0.97) for ICU transfers, and 0.96 (0.96–0.96) for deaths. Our results provide clinicians and policymakers with an evidence-based tool for prioritizing COVID-19 healthcare resources in other population groups aside from those with higher exposure to SARS-CoV-2 and frontline workers.

Background: In Spain, legislation was passed in 2012 excluding undocumented migrants from the public health-care system. Catalonia was one of the Spanish regions that did not implement this legislation, and continued to guarantee access to health care to the whole population. We aimed to analyse health-care use and health status among undocumented migrants in Catalonia, and compare health-care use and health status with legal residents classified according to their socioeconomic position (SEP). Methods: We did a population-based, cross-sectional study, with administrative individual data. The study included the resident population in Catalonia, Spain, in 2017, aged younger than 65 years and with a maximum annual income of less than €18 000 per year, and classified into three socioeconomic (SEP) groups—low SEP, very low SEP, and undocumented migrants. Indicators regarding health-care service use (primary care, emergency care, mental health care, acute care), drug prescriptions, and selected chronic and infectious diseases were analysed. Findings: Between Jan 1 and Dec 31, 2017, 4 071 988 residents of Catalonia were included in this study; undocumented migrants represented 2·8% (n=113 450) of this population. Of all undocumented migrants, 25 942 (61·0%) female participants aged 15–64 years and 19 819 (46·0%) male participants aged 15–64 years attended primary health-care centres: these rates were lower than in individuals with a very low SEP (84·8% in female participants and 72·1% in male participants). Hospital admission rates among male participants aged 15–64 years in the very low SEP group were more than three times as high as in undocumented migrants (111·6 vs 35·7). The highest tuberculosis rate was found in undocumented male migrants (incidence rate 4·35 [95% CI 3·55–5·16]). Interpretation: Undocumented migrants made less use of health-care services than those in the low and very low SEP groups, but for some infectious diseases, incidence was higher in undocumented migrants. These results constitute an additional argument to support the maintenance of universal health coverage for all citizens. Funding: None. © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license

We evaluated the association between individual-level socioeconomic status (SES), life expectancy, and mortality, in adult men and women from the general population living in Catalonia, a universal healthcare coverage setting. We used the Catalan Health Surveillance System database, which includes individual-level information on sociodemographic characteristics and mortality for all residents of Catalonia (Spain). We categorized individuals as high, medium, low or very low SES based on annual personal income and welfare receipt. We used 2016 mortality data to estimate life expectancy at age 18, and the probability of death by age, sex and SES categories. We followed a total of 6,027,424 Catalan residents in 2016. Men and women of very low SES had 12.0 and 9.4 years lower life expectancy compared to men and women of high SES, respectively. Low SES was also strongly associated with mortality in both men and women of any age. In the entire adult population of Catalonia, despite the availability of universal, high quality healthcare coverage, low SES is associated with lower life expectancy and higher mortality. Solutions to these large inequalities may combine tailored health promotion and management interventions, with solutions coming from outside of the health sector.

To evaluate the associations between individual income, all-cause mortality and use of healthcare resources in a very large population of chronic heart failure (CHF) patients living in Catalonia (Spain), where access to public healthcare is granted by law.We used 2016 data from the Catalan Health Surveillance System, a large, exhaustive, administrative healthcare database which includes information on medical diagnoses, healthcare resource use, and individual income for all Catalan residents (N = 7,638,524). Individual annual income was categorized as high (100,000€), medium (18,000-100,000€), low (18,000€), and very low (welfare support). Among 155,883 CHF patients, lower individual income was associated with a shorter life expectancy at age 50 (life expectancy for high income patients 22.2 years, for very low income patients 12.8), and were independently associated with higher all-cause mortality adjusting for age, sex, comorbidities, and duration of the CHF diagnosis (odds ratio very low vs. medium income 1.21 [95% CI 1.11, 1.33]). Also, in patients with lower income levels the burden of public healthcare resource use was displaced towards urgent hospitalizations and frequent emergency department visits, as opposed to regular, specialized CHF ambulatory-based care.In a very large population of CHF patients with access to universal healthcare, lower income was independently associated with higher mortality and with lower use of ambulatory-based healthcare resources. Our findings suggest that CHF patients may benefit from systematic assessment of their socioeconomic status, as this may aid the identification of vulnerable subgroups who may benefit from tailored health education and management.

Objectives To assess the impact of hip fracture (HF) on health care expenditures and resource use. Design Observational, retrospective study. An administrative registry was used to obtain sociodemographic, clinical, and expenditure data of patients treated in centers all over Catalonia (North-East Spain). Setting and participants Male and female patients aged 65 years or older admitted to a Catalonian hospital due to hip fracture (HF) between January 1 2012, and December 31, 2016. Measures The study data set included the expenditure and frequency of using nonemergency transport, rehabilitation, skilled nursing facility, specialist visits, admissions to the emergency department, hospitalization, pharmacy, and primary care. The patient status at each time point included living at home, staying in hospital, staying in a skilled nursing facility, institutionalized in a nursing home, and death. Results The record included 38,628 patients (74.4% female) with a mean [standard deviation (SD)] age of 84.9 (7.07) years. The average expenditure per patient during the first year after hospital admission was €11,721.06, the index hospitalization being the leading expenditure (€4740.29). Expenditures related to hospitalization and skilled nursing facility remained higher than preinjury throughout the 3 years following HF. Three years after the index admission, 44.9% of patients had died, 39.7% were living in their homes, 14.2% were in a nursing home, 0.9% were in a skilled nursing facility, and 0.3% were in hospital. The expenditure of hospitalizations, primary care, and visits to the emergency department increased few months before the HF. Conclusions In patients hospitalized for HF, the expenditure per patient decreases after hospital discharge but the use of healthcare resources is not restored to preinjury values. The increase of expenditures associated with primary care services, hospitalization, and emergency department services during the few months preceding hospital admission suggests a decline of health status in these patients.

Importance The increased mortality after hip fracture (HF) is caused by multiple factors, and large samples are needed to assess the weight of each factor. To date, few studies have investigated these factors through a total cohort approach, and the complexity of underlying medical conditions has not been considered. Objective To investigate the influence of demographic and clinical characteristics on increased mortality risk in elderly patients with hip fracture (HF). Design Retrospective, total cohort study collecting 4-year data. Setting All hospitals and primary care units owned by, or associated with, Catalonia's local health department (CatSalut) (north-east Spain). Participants All patients aged ≥65 years, admitted to Catalan hospitals from CatSalut because of a HF between 1st January 2012 and 31st December 2015. Exposure Hip fracture. Main outcome measures The main outcome was survival. Measures regarding demographic and clinical characteristics at the moment of hospital admission included age, sex, osteoporosis treatment, previous fractures, type of intervention, nutritional status, and comorbidities. Patients were stratified using the Adjusted Morbidity Groups (GMA) risk assessment tool. Results Of the 30,552 patients included in the study sample, 10,439 (34%) died during follow-up, 6821 (22%) within the first year after hospital admission. Mean (SD) age was 84 (7) years; 75% were female. Baseline factors with greater influence on survival were age (HRs 1.44 [95% CI 1.22–1.70], 2.38 [2.03–2.79], and 4.38 [3.73–5.15] for age groups 70–79, 80–89, and >89, respectively), underweight (HR 1.65 [1.36–2.01]), lack of surgical intervention (HR 2.64 [2.47–2.83]), and very high risk stratum of GMA risk (HR 1.58 [1.45–1.73]). Vitamin D/calcium supplementation and osteoporosis treatment showed a significant but moderate influence on mortality (HRs 0.84 (0.79–0.88) and 0.92 [0.85–0.99], respectively). Conclusions and relevance In elderly patients with HF, age and health status factors at hospital admission have the greatest impact on mortality risk after hospital admission. Our findings encourage a comprehensive intervention aimed at improving underlying medical conditions of HF patients.

Resumen Objetivo Comparar el rendimiento referente a la bondad de ajuste y el poder explicativo de 2 agrupadores de morbilidad en el ámbito de la atención primaria (AP): los grupos de morbilidad ajustados (GMA) y los clinical risk groups (CRG). Diseño Estudio transversal. Emplazamiento Ámbito de la AP del Instituto Catalán de la Salud (ICS), Cataluña, España. Participantes Población asignada a centros de AP del ICS para el año 2014. Mediciones principales Se analizan 3 indicadores de interés, como son el ingreso urgente, el número de visitas y el gasto en farmacia. Se aplica un análisis estratificado por centros ajustando modelos lineales generalizados a partir de las variables edad, sexo y agrupador de morbilidad para explicar cada una de las 3 variables de interés. Las medidas estadísticas para analizar el rendimiento de los distintos modelos aplicados son el índice de Akaike, el índice de Bayes y la seudovariabilidad explicada mediante cambio de deviance. Resultados Los resultados muestran que en el ámbito de la AP del ICS el poder explicativo de los GMA es superior al ofrecido por los CRG, especialmente para el caso de las visitas y el gasto en farmacia. Conclusiones El rendimiento de los GMA en el ámbito de la AP del ICS es superior al mostrado por los CRG.

To analyse the distribution of the expenditure according to the healthcare services and characteristics of patients, using the microdata of the Catalan population's use of healthcare services.A fee or an indirect cost has been applied to all healthcare activities financed by CatSalut during 2014, computing the health expenditure made up by each person and adding it all up for the inhabitants of Catalonia (Spain).The sum of the healthcare expenditure made by all the inhabitants of Catalonia represents 97.0% of the CatSalut budget. Half of the population accounts for 3.6% of total healthcare expenditure (71€ per person); 1% of the population spends 23% of the expenditure (22,852€ per person). The highest average expenditure, in both women and men, occurs between the age of 80 and 89. The population with a chronic disease has an average annual expenditure of 413€, with 5 of 2,413€, and 10 of 9,626€. The average cost varies according to pathologies, from 2,854€ in patients with severe depression to 8,097€ in patients with HIV-AIDS.The results are extremely useful for healthcare planning and for the prioritization of health policy interventions in groups with most needs.

ObjectiveTo describe the prevalence and incidence of cardiovascular risk factors, established cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cardiovascular medication use, among immigrant individuals of diverse national origins living in Catalonia (Spain), a region receiving large groups of immigrants from all around the world, and with universal access to healthcare.MethodsWe conducted a population-based analysis including >6 million adult individuals living in Catalonia, using the local administrative healthcare databases. Immigrants were classified in 6 World Bank geographic areas: Latin America/Caribbean, North Africa/Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia and South Asia. Prevalence calculations were set as of 31 December 2017.ResultsImmigrant groups were younger than the local population; despite this, the prevalence of CVD risk factors and of established CVD was very high in some immigrant subgroups compared with local individuals. South Asians had the highest prevalence of diabetes, and of hyperlipidemia among adults aged ConclusionsThe high prevalence of risk factors and established CVD among South Asians and sub-Saharan Africans stresses the need for tailored, aggressive health promotion interventions. These are likely to be beneficial in Catalonia, and in countries receiving similar migratory fluxes, as well as in their countries of origin.

Heart failure (HF) is one of the diseases with greater healthcare expenditure. However, little is known about the cost of HF at a population level. Hence, our aim was to study the population-level distribution and predictors of healthcare expenditure in patients with HF.This was a population-based longitudinal study including all prevalent HF cases in Catalonia (Spain) on 31 December 2012 (n = 88 195). We evaluated 1-year healthcare resource use and expenditure using the Health Department (CatSalut) surveillance system that collects detailed information on healthcare usage for the entire population. Mean age was 77.4 (12) years; 55% were women. One-year mortality rate was 14%. All-cause emergency department visits and unplanned hospitalizations were required at least once in 53.4% and 30.8% of patients, respectively. During 2013, a total of €536.2 million were spent in the care of HF patients (7.1% of the total healthcare budget). The main source of expenditure was hospitalization (39% of the total) whereas outpatient care represented 20% of the total expenditure. In the general population, outpatient care and hospitalization were the main expenses. In multivariate analysis, younger age, higher presence of co-morbidities, and a recent HF or all-cause hospitalization were independently associated with higher healthcare expenditure.In Catalonia, a large portion of the annual healthcare budget is devoted to HF patients. Unplanned hospitalization represents the main source of healthcare-related expenditure. The knowledge of how expenditure is distributed in a non-selected HF population might allow health providers to plan the distribution of resources in patients with HF.

To verify the usefulness of the minimum data set (MDS) for acute-care hospitals and emergency resources for the study of road traffic injuries and to describe the use of health resources in Catalonia (Spain).The study population consisted of patients treated in any kind of emergency service and patients admitted for acute hospitalization in Catalonia in 2013. A descriptive analysis was performed by age, gender, time and clinical variables.A total of 48,150 patients were treated in hospital emergency departments, 6,210 were attended in primary care, and 4,912 were admitted to hospital. There was a higher proportion of men (56.2%), mainly aged between 20 and 40 years. Men accounted for 54.9% of patients with minor injuries and 75.1% of those with severe injuries. Contusions are the most common injury (30.2%), followed by sprains (28.7%). Fractures mostly affected persons older than 64 years, internal injuries particularly affected men older than 64 years, and wounds mainly affected persons younger than 18 years and older than 64 years. In the adult population, the severity of the injuries increased with age, leading to longer length of stay and greater complexity. Hospital mortality was 0.2%. Fractures, internal injuries and wounds were more frequent in the group of very serious injuries, and sprains and contusions in the group of minor injuries.MDS records (acute hospitals and emergency resources) provide information that is complementary to other sources of information on traffic accidents, increasing the completeness of the data.

Objective To analyse population-based data on hospitalisation caused by dog bite injuries after changes in legal regulations on dog ownership, including breed-specific regulations. Design Descriptive study. Setting Hospitals in Catalonia (Spain), 1997e2008. Subjects Persons hospitalised with injuries caused by dog bites. Results There has been a significant decline in hospitalisation caused by injuries from dog bites from 1.80/100000 in 1997e9 to 1.11/100000 in 2006e8, after the enactment of stricter regulations on dog ownership in 1999 and 2002. The magnitude of this change is significant (38%), and has been greatest in less urban settings. Conclusions Government regulations were associated with a sizable decrease in injuries caused by dog bites in Catalonia. More evaluative studies in this field may provide criteria to focus future regulations and other preventive interventions.

The efficacy of heart failure programs has been demonstrated in clinical trials but their applicability in the real world practice setting is more controversial. This study evaluates the feasibility and efficacy of an integrated hospital-primary care program for the management of patients with heart failure in an integrated health area covering a population of 309,345.For the analysis, we included all patients consecutively admitted with heart failure as the principal diagnosis who had been discharged alive from all of the hospitals in Catalonia, Spain, from 2005 to 2011, the period when the program was implemented, and compared mortality and readmissions among patients exposed to the program with the rates in the patients of all the remaining integrated health areas of the Servei Català de la Salut (Catalan Health Service).We included 56,742 patients in the study. There were 181,204 hospital admissions and 30,712 deaths during the study period. In the adjusted analyses, when compared to the 54,659 patients from the other health areas, the 2083 patients exposed to the program had a lower risk of death (hazard ratio=0.92 [95% confidence interval, 0.86-0.97]; P=.005), a lower risk of clinically-related readmission (hazard ratio=0.71 [95% confidence interval, 0.66-0.76]; P.001), and a lower risk of readmission for heart failure (hazard ratio=0.86 [95% confidence interval, 0.80-0.94]; P.001). The positive impact on the morbidity and mortality rates was more marked once the program had become well established.The implementation of multidisciplinary heart failure management programs that integrate the hospital and the community is feasible and is associated with a significant reduction in patient morbidity and mortality.

Hospital mortality secondary to cirrhosis is high. Aim To evaluate hospital mortality in patients admitted for specific complications of cirrhosis over time. Material and methods Registry-data from Administrative Inpatient Dataset of acute care hospitals were collected at discharge from 2003 to 2010. Inclusion criteria were as follows: hospital admissions where one of the diagnoses was cirrhosis and the reason for admission was a specific complication of cirrhosis (ascites, encephalopathy, hepatorenal syndrome and haemorrhage from varices, bacterial spontaneous peritonitis). Analysis of variance was used for comparisons of quantitative variables and Chi-square for qualitative variables. Logistic regression was performed to identify the risk factors associated with hospital mortality; the Hosmer and Lemeshow test was applied to evaluate calibration and the ROC curve for discrimination respectively. Results A total of 12,671 hospital admissions were analysed; 67.7% were men. Mean hospitalization stay was 10.9 (SD 9.2) days and the most frequent causes were encephalopathy (44.2%) and ascites (30.9%). Global hospital mortality was 11.6%. Logistic regression showed that once all factors had been adjusted, hepatorenal syndrome conveyed the highest risk for death (49.2%; OR = 8.1(95%CI:6.6–9.9). Risk of death was also increased by associated comorbidities and older age. Hospital mortality in the period 2006–2010 was 27% inferior to the period 2003–2005. The area under the ROC curve (AUROC) was 0.77 (95%CI 0.76–0.78). Conclusions Hospital mortality as a result of specific complications of cirrhosis is high, but has been declining in recent years.

Background Mortality and morbidity rates are higher in patients receiving haemodialysis therapy than in the general population. Detection of risk factors related to early death in these patients could be of aid for clinical and administrative decision making. Objectives. The aims of this study were (1) to identify risk factors (comorbidity and variables specific to haemodialysis) associated with death in the first year following the start of haemodialysis and (2) to design and validate a prognostic model to quantify the probability of death for each patient. Methods An analysis was carried out on all patients starting haemodialysis treatment in Catalonia during the period 1997-2003 (n = 5738). The data source was the Renal Registry of Catalonia, a mandatory population registry. Patients were randomly divided into two samples: 60% (n = 3455) of the total were used to develop the prognostic model and the remaining 40% (n = 2283) to validate the model. Logistic regression analysis was used to construct the model. Results One-year mortality in the total study population was 16.5%. The predictive model included the following variables: age, sex, primary renal disease, grade of functional autonomy, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, malignant processes, chronic liver disease, cardiovascular disease, initial vascular access and malnutrition. The analyses showed adequate calibration for both the sample to develop the model and the validation sample (Hosmer-Lemeshow statistic 0.97 and P = 0.49, respectively) as well as adequate discrimination (ROC curve 0.78 in both cases). Conclusions Risk factors implicated in mortality at one year following the start of haemodialysis have been determined and a prognostic model designed. The validated, easy-to-apply model quantifies individual patient risk attributable to various factors, some of them amenable to correction by directed interventions.

Background. After taking other confounding factors into account, the impact of comorbidity on mortality was investigated when comparing mortality between five European countries, dialysis modalities and renal disease groups. Methods. The study included 15 571 incident patients on renal replacement therapy (RRT) from five national or regional registries participating in the European Renal Association—European Dialysis and Transplant Association Registry that collect comorbidity data. The presence of diabetes mellitus, ischaemic heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, cerebrovascular disease and malignancy was recorded at the start of RRT. Results. The comorbidities were each independently associated with mortality, with hazard ratios (HRs) ranging from 1.40 (95% CI: 1.30–1.51) for peripheral vascular disease to 1.65 (95% CI: 1.48–1.83) for diabetes. Age, gender, primary renal disease, modality and country together explained 14.4% of the variance in mortality; the comorbidities explained an additional 1.9%. In the comparison of renal vascular disease with glomerulonephritis, the crude HR of 2.40 (95% CI: 2.12–2.72) changed to 1.24 (95% CI: 1.09–1.41) after adjustment for age, gender, primary renal disease, treatment modality and country and to 1.06 (95% CI: 0.93–1.22) after further adjustment for the comorbidities. For the comparison between countries and other patient groups, the change in the survival estimate after adjustment for comorbidity was less. Conclusion. Comorbidity is an important predictor for mortality. However, after adjustment for age, gender, primary renal disease, treatment modality and country, when comparing outcomes between patient groups the influence of comorbidity may be less important than expected.

Chronic hemodialysis patients show a high incidence and prevalence of cardiovascular disease of multifactorial etiology and an association between dyslipidemia and accelerated atherosclerosis. We analyzed characteristics of dyslipidemia in 1824 hemodialysis patients (59% men; mean age 65 ± 15 years) in Catalonia and identified risk factors by logistic regression. Prevalence of dyslipidemia was high (63%). Most frequent lipid alterations were decreased HDL cholesterol (40%), hypertriglyceridemia (31%) and hypercholesterolemia (19%). Total cholesterol/HDL ratio was elevated in 23%. Body mass index (OR 1.08; 95% CI 1.05–1.11), diabetes mellitus (1.4; 1.09–1.79), ischemic heart disease (1.38, 1.08–1.75) and stroke (1.30; 1.0–1.69) were independent factors associated with dyslipidemia. Lengthy time (>7 years) on dialysis (0.77; 0.59–0.99) and female sex (0.78; 0.64–0.96) were independent protective factors. A significant reduction in the risk of developing dyslipidemia was observed after the age of 50. Lipid-lowering drug use was low (19%), with statins being the most frequent (83%). The percentage of patients reaching target LDL levels according to individual cardiovascular risk (ATPIII) was unsatisfactory, particularly in high risk patients (52%). In light of the high prevalence of dyslipidemia and low adherence to target LDL goals, we conclude that strict control of dyslipidemia should be included in cardiovascular risk prevention strategies for chronic hemodialysis patients.

Fibrilación Atrial; Insuficiencia Cardíaca; Estudio longitudinal Fibril·lació atrial; Insuficiència cardíaca; Estudi longitudinal Atrial Fibrillation; Heart Failure; Longitudinal study BACKGROUND Heart failure (HF) is frequent and its prevalence is increasing. We aimed to evaluate the epidemiologic features of HF patients, the 1-year follow-up outcomes and the independent predictors of those outcomes at a population level. METHODS AND RESULTS Population-based longitudinal study including all prevalent HF cases in Catalonia (Spain) on December 31st, 2012. Patients were divided in 3 groups: patients without a previous HF hospitalization, patients with a remote (>1 year) HF hospitalization and patients with a recent (