[Estimation of coronary disease mortality and morbidity in France from epidemiological data]

The incidence of coronary heart diseases in France is estimated from three sources of information. Mortality statistics underestimate the number of deaths from coronary heart diseases. An evaluation of this number is proposed, but with a rather important lack of precision; for example, between 10 and 20% of male mortality between age 45 and 64. These French coronary death rates are inferior to those of numerous other European or Anglo-Saxon countries, but are comparable with those of some mediterranean countries. The incidence of coronary heart diseases measured in the Paris Prospective Study is inferior by half to that of the Framingham Study and is also inferior to those of several male populations from the 7 Countries Study, in the same age limits. Three French registers give similar results about the incidence of acute myocardial infarction. This incidence is equal to the lower limit of those measured in 21 foreign registers. These concording data suggest that the incidence of coronary heart diseases is relatively moderate in France. Etiological hypotheses are planned and the interest in a surveillance of French sanitary data is reminded.