Abstract
Systematic, simultaneous surveillance of cardiovascular disease risk factors, morbidity, and mortality is ongoing in the Minnesota Heart Survey. Risk factors for cardiovascular disease were measured in population-based surveys of Twin Cities metropolitan area residents aged 25-74 years in 1980-1982 and 1985-1987. During this period, age-adjusted, average systolic blood pressure declined nonsignificantly in men and significantly in women, and average, age-adjusted diastolic blood pressure declined 1.1 mmHg in men and 0.9 mmHg in women. Between 1980-1982 and 1985-1987, serum total cholesterol declined significantly, 5.2 and 5.8 mg/dl in men and women, respectively. Serum high density lipoprotein cholesterol decreased 1.6 mg/dl in men and 0.9 mg/dl in women. The prevalence of cigarette smoking declined by 14% in men and 18% in women. In contrast, the average body mass index increased 0.6 kg/m2 in men and 1.2 kg/m2 in women. Systematic hospital and death certificate surveillance found that mortality rates for coronary heart disease in the Twin Cities metropolitan area declined 20.1% in men and 12.9% in women from 1981 to 1986. Despite difficulties in interpretation of ecologic studies, it appears likely that improvements in population risk factor levels played a role in the decline in disease rates and could influence future mortality trends in this population.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 489-500 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | American journal of epidemiology |
Volume | 132 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 1990 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:sion of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Stadium Gate 27, 611 Beacon Street, S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455. Supported by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute grant RO1-23727. Acknowledgments: The authors acknowledge the assistance of Margie Miller, Joan Knudsen, and Jan Smith in the collection of these data.
Keywords
- Blood pressure
- Body mass index
- Cardiovascular diseases
- Cholesterol
- Risk factors
- Smoking