Risk of ischaemic heart disease and acute myocardial infarction in a Spanish population: observational prospective study in a primary-care setting

BACKGROUND: Ischaemic heart disease is a global priority of health-care policy, because of its social repercussions and its impact on the health-care system. Yet there is little information on coronary morbidity in Spain and on the effect of the principal risk factors on risk of coronary heart disease. The objective of this study is to describe the epidemiology of coronary disease (incidence, mortality and its association with cardiovascular risk factors) using the information gathered by primary care practitioners on cardiovascular health of their population. METHODS: A prospective study was designed. Eight primary-care centres participated, each contributing to the constitution of the cohort with the entire population covered by the centre. A total of 6124 men and women aged over 25 years and free of cardiovascular disease agreed to participate and were thus enrolled and followed-up, with all fatal and non-fatal coronary disease episodes being registered during a 5-year period. Repeated measurements were collected on smoking, blood pressure, weight and height, serum total cholesterol, high-density and low-density lipoproteins and fasting glucose. Rates were calculated for acute myocardial infarction and ischaemic heart disease. Associations between cardiovascular risk factors and coronary disease-free survival were evaluated using Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses. RESULTS: Mean age at recruitment was 51.6 ± 15, with 24% of patients being over 65. At baseline, 74% of patients were overweight, serum cholesterol over 240 was present in 35% of patients, arterial hypertension in 37%, and basal glucose over 126 in 11%. Thirty-four percent of men and 13% of women were current smokers. During follow-up, 155 first episodes of coronary disease were detected, which yielded age-adjusted rates of 362 and 191 per 100,000 person-years in men and women respectively. Disease-free survival was associated with all risk factors in univariate analyses. After multivariate adjustments, age, male gender, smoking, high total cholesterol, high HDL/LDL ratio, diabetes and overweight remained strongly associated with risk. Relative risks for hypertension in women and for diabetes in men did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSION: Despite high prevalence of vascular risk factors, incidence rates were lower than those reported for other countries and other periods, but similar to those reported in the few population-based studies in Spain. Effect measures of vascular risk factors were mainly as reported worldwide and support the hypothesis that protective factors not considered in this study must exist as to explain low rates. This study shows the feasibility of conducting epidemiological cohort studies in primary-care settings

Population-based register of stroke : manual of operations

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death and hospitalization in both sexes in nearly all countries of Europe. The main forms of cardiovascular disease are ischaemic heart disease and stroke. Stroke by itself is the second leading cause of death in the European Union, and the annual number of cases of stroke is expected to increase within the next few decades, mainly owing to a growth in the proportion of older people.Stroke is an expensive disease because of the large number of premature deaths, ongoing disability in survivors, and the impact on families or caregivers and on health services (treatment and rehabilitation). Therefore, there is a pressing need to make stroke prevention and treatment a priority, to reduce the growing health burden and lessen its socioeconomic impact.The magnitude of the problem contrasts with the shortage, weak quality, and comparability of data available in most European countries. A stepwise surveillance procedure based on standardized data collection, appropriate record linkage, and validation methods was set up by the EUROCISS project (EUROpean Cardiovascular Indicators Surveillance Set), to build up comparable and reliable indicators for the surveillance of stroke at the population level.This manual of operations is intended for health professionals and policy makers. It provides a standardized and simple model for the implementation of a population-based register, which can provide estimates of attack rate and case fatality. The manual recommends starting from a minimum data set.Before implementing a population-based register, it is important to identify the target population under surveillance, which should preferably cover a well defined geographical and administrative area or region representative of the whole country, where population data and vital statistics (mortality and hospital discharge records at least) are routinely collected and easily available each year. All cases among residents should be recorded even if the case occurs outside the area. Validation of a sample of fatal and nonfatal events is mandatory