The risk-map of Europe. WHO ERICA Research Group

In Europe around 1970 there were only a few small and often poorly known epidemiological studies on risk factors and the incidence of coronary heart disease. In order to enhance the utilization of the information contained in them, the Medical Clinic in Heidelberg offered uniform data analysis to qualifying contributing centres. Thirty-five studies from 17 countries joined this WHO project covering a total sample of 151,923 men and women. The first objective was to draw up a risk distribution map of Europe that would help to understand changes in cardiovascular disease mortality. In this first report the geographical distribution of the four main risk factors--blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking, and weight--is presented together with an overall risk estimate. The well known north-west--east-south decrement in coronary heart disease mortality is clearly supported by this analysis. The second publication will deal with multivariate risk prediction calculated from European data.