Cardiomyopathy (CMP) is an uncommon diseases that often lead to heart failure. Dilated and Hypertrophic CMP are the major type of CMP. The epidemiology data (Incidence and Prevalence) of the diseases is lacking in the Asian region. Owing to the less advance medical record system in my country, we are unable to know the exact number of patient with CMP in the population hence the prevalence. I only have the number of CMP admission to my hospital per year (2013-2018), would it be possible to calculate "Incident rate" for the given year, per 100,000 hospital admission? Or Is there any better method of calculation could be more representative of the population? Your professional input are highly appreciated.
Epidemiologists must always consider three factors when they measure how commonly a disease occurs in a group of people: (1) the number of people that are affected by the disease, (2) the size of the population from which the cases of disease arise, and (3) the length of time that the population is followed. Failure to consider all three components will give a false
impression about the impact of the disease on a population.
I agree with Dr. Adnan's comments, epidemiology is the study and analysis to determine health and disease in a defined population based on the distribution of the disease (who, when, and where). You could of course use your hospital data and do a descriptive epidemiological study (calculating prevalence and cumulative incidence) in five years follow-up.
Dear Dr Muhammad Adnan . Thank you for your reply. In my country, there is no registery to record the total patient affected by CMP. However, they are usually referred to tertiary centre for workup and management. Dear Prof Xinjun Li , thanks for the reply. With only single centre data from my centre (tertiary centre), could we still calculate the prevalence data? I do some reading online and found that, I can calculate the incident rate say in 2018: Using the no of new CMP cases diagnosed in 2018 (my centre), divided by no of total admission in my centre times 100,00 admission. May I know is the calculation about representative of the incident rate? Thank you.
Incidence rate explains new cases, prevalence explains current plus new cases, term prevalence preferably be used for cases reported in community settings, term frequency be used in hospital settings. Hopefully it will help you.
I do not think you are in a position to make any textbook-faithful prevalence or incidence calculation. You must summarize the cases (and hospital workload, etc., if relevant) with an ad hoc quantitative description of the background (catchment conditions, timespan). - Anyhow, I do not think the usual epidemiological statistics you mention fit the occurrence of CMP because it is essentially a symptom, not a disease, just as it makes little sense to speak of the incidence and prevalence of shortness-of-breath. Hope this remark is a help.
Cardiomyopathy is a progressive disease of the myocardium, or heart muscle. In most cases, the heart muscle weakens and is unable to pump blood to the rest of the body as well as it should. There are many different types of cardiomyopathy caused by a range of factors, from coronary heart disease to certain drugs. These can all lead to an irregular heartbeat, heart failure, a heart valve problem, or other complications.
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