Key Messages
Prevalence
Incidence
Technical Notes
Key Messages
- There were more than 12,400 Simcoe Muskoka adults (18+) living with CHF in 2019, including nearly 2,000 individuals newly diagnosed with CHF. This means that one-in-fifty Simcoe Muskoka adults (18+) were living with CHF and that for every 1,000 Simcoe Muskoka adults (18+), three were newly diagnosed with CHF.
- CHF prevalence and incidence rates have remained relatively stable since 2009.
- CHF prevalence and incidence rates are highest among those living in areas with the most material deprivation and lowest among those living in areas with the least deprivation.
Prevalence
According to the Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) cohorts developed by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), in 2019, approximately 12,400 (or one-in-fifty) Simcoe Muskoka adults (18 years and older) were living with CHF.
The age-standardized adult (18+) CHF prevalence rates in Simcoe Muskoka have been similar to the provincial rates since 2009. The adult CHF prevalence rates have remained relatively stable since 2009.

CHF prevalence has been consistently higher among males when compared with females in Simcoe Muskoka since 2010.

In 2019, Simcoe Muskoka adults (18+) living in areas with the highest amount of material deprivation (as measured by the 2016 Ontario Marginalization Index) had the highest CHF prevalence rate and those living in areas with the least amount of material deprivation had the lowest rate.

The rate of new cases of CHF (also called the incidence rate) provides a measure of the risk of developing CHF over a given period of time. This is different from the CHF prevalence rates presented above, which provide a measure of how wide spread CHF is over a given period of time. In 2019, there were nearly 2,000 new cases of CHF diagnosed among Simcoe Muskoka adults (18+) which equates to an age-standardized incidence rate of 3.4 (3.3, 3.6) new cases per 1,000. The CHF incidence rates, both locally and provincially, have remained relatively stable from 2009 to 2019. The Simcoe Muskoka incidence rates have been above the provincial incidence rates since 2014.

CHF incidence in Simcoe Muskoka has been higher among males when compared with females for most years since 2009.

In 2019, Simcoe Muskoka adults (18+) living in areas with the highest amount of material deprivation (as measured by the 2016 Ontario Marginalization Index) had the highest CHF incidence rate and those living in areas with the least amount of material deprivation had the lowest rate.

CHF is a chronic condition when the heart is not working as well as expected; however, it does not necessarily mean that the heart has completely stopped working. Certain medical conditions, like hypertension and diabetes, can increase the risk for CHF. Many of the modifiable risk factors for other chronic diseases, like smoking and physical inactivity, are also associated with an increased risk for CHF.
Information presented on this page is from the report by Refik Saskin and Luis Palma titled Chronic disease trends in Simcoe Muskoka. The report was completed in February of 2023 as part of the response to an Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Applied Health Research Question (AHRQ) submitted to the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) by the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU). The data source citation for counts, rates and other figures extracted from the report is: ICES AHRQ Project 2023 0950 141 000.
This AHQR study was supported by ICES, which is funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health. The opinions, results and conclusions are those of the authors and are independent from the funding and data sources. No endorsement by ICES, the Ontario Ministry of Health, or CIHI is intended or should be inferred. The contents and interpretation of this web page are solely the responsibility of SMDHU.
Page updated February 15, 2023