RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To find the prevalence and aetiology of chronic cardiac failure (CCF) among elderly people in a health area. DESIGN: Retrospective, crossover study. SETTING: Delicias Sur Health Centre, Zaragoza. PATIENTS AND OTHER PARTICIPANTS: A representative sample of the population over 65 registered at the Health Centre. Systematic random sampling: n = 1,635. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: 104 cases of cardiac failure were identified, which corresponded to a 6.3% (+/- 0.01) prevalence. By age groups, prevalence was 4.5% (+/- 0.01) for the 65-74 group and 8.5% (+/- 0.02) for those over 75. Regarding aetiology, 50.9% was due to arterial hypertension, 21.2% coronary failure, 22.1% valvulopathies and 17.3% reason unknown. CONCLUSIONS: CCF prevalence in the community increases with age and in our ambit exceeds that found in other countries. Almost half the cases are related to arterial hypertension.