BACKGROUND: Medical, social and economic costs of @entity712 ( @entity712 ) continue to rise. There exists a 'care gap' between what the optimal care populations with @entity712 should receive and actually do receive. Central to the goal to develop effective strategies against the 'care gap' is accurate measurement of the @entity712 burden. Administrative data are limited in detail and accuracy and clinical databases suffer from limited size. Improving Cardiovascular Outcomes in Nova @entity1687 (ICONS) is a province-wide population-based disease management study with access to all @entity1 health data including outcomes. METHODS: Medical records of all @entity1 admitted to any Nova @entity1687 health care institution with a @entity65 were prospectively examined by trained abstractors. @entity1 were followed up and health outcomes measured through assignment of unique identifier numbers and linkage with Vital Statistics Nova @entity1687 . This report summarizes baseline data for the population admitted to hospital with a diagnosis of @entity712 between October 15, 1997 and October 14, 1998. RESULTS: There were 2637 unique @entity1 enrolled with 3547 hospitalizations. The median length of stay was eight days, with in-hospital mortality of 18.2%; 10.8% were discharged to long term care. The mortality rate was 38.7% at 12 months and the rehospitalization rate was 39.9%. Average age was 75 +/- 10 years (median 76) and 52% were female. There were 4.5 comorbidities per @entity1 . Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was measured in fewer than 40%; of these, fewer than 39% had a documented ejection fraction less than 40%. At discharge, 61.3% of survivors were prescribed @entity1289 ( @entity1289 ) inhibitors, 6.0% angiotensin blockers, 42.1% beta-blockers, 75.6% diuretics, 26.1% @entity460 channel blockers and 19.3% @entity1229 . Females were older and had lower rate of LVEF testing and @entity1289 and @entity1229 usage. CONCLUSION: The burden of disease for @entity712 in Nova @entity1687 is large and affects an elderly population with multiple comorbidities. Adverse outcomes such as @entity204 , rehospitalization and admission to a chronic care facility are common. Measurement of the 'care gap' requires consideration of these factors and of elderly and female @entity1 regardless of left ventricular function. Successful strategies will likely be multidisciplinary in scope with a focus toward improving access to care.

Identifying opportunities to address the @entity712 burden: the Improving Cardiovascular Outcomes in Nova XXXX (ICONS) study.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['Patients', 'patients', 'patient'] @entity712 :: ('MESH:D006333', 'Disease') :: ['congestive heart failure', 'CHF'] @entity1289 :: ('1636', 'Gene') :: ['ACE', 'angiotensin-converting enzyme'] @entity1687 :: ('MESH:D052556', 'Disease') :: ['Scotia'] @entity460 :: ('MESH:D002118', 'Chemical') :: ['calcium'] @entity204 :: ('MESH:D003643', 'Disease') :: ['death'] @entity65 :: ('MESH:D002318', 'Disease') :: ['cardiovascular disorder'] @entity1229 :: ('MESH:D014859', 'Chemical') :: ['warfarin']
@entity1687 :: (MESH:D052556,Disease) :: ['Scotia']
