Key result
Finnish ischaemic heart disease mortality drops ~20% over a decade from declining incidence and fatality.
Why the study?
The decline in mortality from ischaemic heart disease in Finland may be due to changes in incidence or prognosis, but data on these components were limited and needed analysis.
Observational
Effect estimate: 15.9% decrease in men and 23.5% decrease in women
Both incidence and case-fatality reductions drove IHD mortality declines; supports dual prevention-treatment roles but leaves open relevance to current populations.
The components of the decline in mortality from ischaemic heart disease in Finland were studied by analysing the changes in incidence and prognosis between 1972 and 1981. Using personal identification numbers, hospital discharge records and death certificates were linked for all men and women aged 40-64. During this period mortality decreased 15.9% in men and 23.5% in women, incidence 14.2% in men and 19.3% in women, being greatest among 40-49 year olds living in urban areas, and case fatality 7.3% in men and 10.3% in women, owing primarily to a decrease in patients dying of ischaemic heart disease without being admitted to hospital; survival was also better among patients admitted to hospital. Factors explaining these changes remain unknown because data on risk factors and factors influencing prognosis are limited and largely ecological.
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Koskenvuo et al. (1985) conducted an observational in Ischaemic heart disease. Time period (1981 vs 1972) vs. Year 1972 was evaluated on Mortality from ischaemic heart disease (15.9% decrease in men and 23.5% decrease in women). Between 1972 and 1981, mortality from ischaemic heart disease in Finland decreased by 15.9% in men and 23.5% in women aged 40-64, driven by reductions in both disease incidence and case fatality.
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