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[The relevance of mortality due to circulatory system diseases in Spain]
J R Banegas Banegas1, F Villar Alvarez, J M Martín Moreno
1Departamento de Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.
Insights
Cardiovascular disease mortality in Spain decreased significantly from 1968 to 1987, particularly in cerebrovascular deaths. Lifestyle changes and medical advances likely contributed to saving over 12,000 lives.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular epidemiology
- Public health trends
- Mortality statistics
Context:
- Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are a leading cause of death in Spain and Western countries.
- In 1987, CVD accounted for 42.6% of all deaths, a slight decrease from 44.9% in 1976.
- Crude death rates in 1987 were 306/100,000 for males and 351/100,000 for females.
Purpose:
- To analyze trends in cardiovascular disease mortality in Spain from 1968 to 1987.
- To identify specific causes of mortality decline, such as cerebrovascular and coronary heart disease.
- To estimate the number of lives saved due to reduced mortality rates.
Summary:
- Age-adjusted CVD mortality decreased by 1.26% annually in males and 1.6% in females between 1968 and 1987.
- A significant annual decrease of 3% in cerebrovascular mortality since the mid-1970s was a major contributor.
- Coronary heart disease mortality also declined by over 1% annually during the same period.
- These trends suggest a potential saving of over 12,000 CVD deaths in 1987 compared to 1976 rates.
Impact:
- Highlights the effectiveness of public health interventions and medical advancements in reducing CVD mortality.
- Underscores the need for further research to quantify the impact of various contributing factors, including lifestyle changes.
- Provides valuable data for future cardiovascular disease prevention strategies in Spain.
Abstract:
Cardiovascular diseases is the first cause of death in Spain, as it occurs in most western countries, with a crude death rate of 306 per 100,000 inhabitants in the male population and 351 in the female population in 1987. While this represented a 44.9% of all death causes in 1976, it represented a 42.6% in 1987. Death due to cardiovascular diseases, once corrected for the aging population, has decreased at a yearly rate of 1.26% in males and 1.6% in females from 1968 to 1987 (last year with available date). Most part of the decrease is due to a mean annual decrease of 3% in cerebrovascular mortality since the mid 70s, followed by a reduction in coronary deaths, slightly above 1% annually, since approximately the same time. The changes in life style that have taken place, together with medical and surgical advances and the influence of other factors which have not been so widely studied could be responsible for the potential saving of over 12,000 deaths due to cardiovascular diseases, which would have been added to those occurred in 1987 if mortality rate due to cardiovascular diseases had been the same as in 1976. The difficulty to assign a quantified degree of responsibility changes constitutes a research challenge, not discrediting the preventive action on this facts which are already known.