Heart disease less common in Oslo

Heart disease less common in OsloHeart.Photo. pixabay.com

Heart disease is more common among persons aged 60 years and over than among young people, who more often have injuries. Oslo, with its relatively young population, experiences fewer cases of heart disease per inhabitant than the rest of the country.

Certain diseases become more prevalent as we age, such as cancer and heart disease. After the age of 60 we are especially at risk. Injuries, on the other hand, are more common when we are younger, perhaps because young people are more active and expose themselves to higher risk.

A relatively high share of Oslo’s population is between 20 and 40 years of age. This may explain why there are more injuries per 1 000 inhabitants in the capital compared to the rest of the country. However, with fewer persons aged 60 years and over, relatively fewer are treated for heart disease.

The opposite might be said for Sogn og Fjordane. This is the county with the highest number of patients treated for heart disease. The age profile for Sogn og Fjordane is almost the opposite of Oslo, with fewer persons between the ages of 20 and 40 than the rest of the country, and a higher share aged 60 or over. This may partially explain the disparities between the two counties in terms of the number of patients treated for heart disease.

More patients treated in somatic hospitals

A total of 1.9 million patients were treated in somatic hospitals in Norway in 2015. This is an increase of 4 per cent compared to the year before, and comprised 5.8 million outpatient consultations, approximately 350 000 day cases and 800 000 inpatient treatments. More women than men receive hospital treatment; 55 per cent of patients at all treatment levels are women. Women are also in the majority when pregnancy and childbirth are excluded.

Changes in registration in the NPR

The Norwegian Patient Register (NPR) has made changes in its registration of certain treatments. Day cases now include inpatient care with 0 overnight stays (previously registered as inpatient care). Dialysis with 0 overnight stays (previously registered as day cases) is now registered as outpatient consultations.

Due to these changes, the new figures released by Statistics Norway for the different treatment levels (outpatient consultations, day cases and inpatient care) for 2015 are not comparable to previous years. The NPR has produced time series for the years 2010 and onwards. These figures show an increase in inpatient care (0.8 per cent) and outpatient consultations (5 per cent), and a small decrease in day cases (-0.6 per cent).

 

Source: SSB / Norway Today