Fatal heart failure risk higher in poorer areas

PEOPLE in the most deprived areas who have heart failure can expect to die more than six months earlier than those living in wealthier regions, a study says.

- By Hanna Geissler Health Editor

A comparison of death rates among sufferers in West Yorkshire with the general UK population found people in the most affluent areas had an 11% higher risk of dying over five years.

However, that figure rose to 24% for those in the most socioeconomically deprived parts of the country.

The Leeds University researchers, who analysed data from 1,802 heart patients, calculated the condition cut life expectancy by around 1.8 years for patients living in the least deprived areas. That rose to 2.3 years in the poorest regions.

Data was collected between 2006 and 2014, during which the life expectancy gap increased.

Troubling