Reducing the cardiovascular disease burden for people of all ages in the Americas region: analysis of mortality data, 2000–15

Publication date: May 2019Source: The Lancet Global Health, Volume 7, Issue 5Author(s): Peter Lloyd-Sherlock, Shah Ebrahim, Ramon Martinez, Martin McKee, Pedro OrdunezSummaryBackgroundIn accordance with the age parameters specified in Sustainable Development Goal target 3.4, current policy and monitoring of non-communicable disease (NCD) mortality trends focus on people aged 30–69 years. This approach excludes the majority of NCD deaths, which occur at older ages. We aimed to compare cardiovascular mortality for different age groups in the WHO Region of the Americas.MethodsWe extracted mortality data from the Pan American Health Organization regional mortality database for 36 countries for the period 2000 to 2015. We calculated age-standardised mortality rates (ASMRs) from cardiovascular diseases for different age groups for these countries. Joinpoint regression models were used to estimate mortality trends, providing estimates of the average annual percentage change for the period 2000–15.FindingsIndividuals aged 70 years or older accounted for the majority of cardiovascular disease deaths in all countries (range 52–82%). Considerable variation in cardiovascular deaths was observed between countries for all age categories. Between 2000 and 2015, in most countries, the largest reductions in ASMR were observed in the older age groups (aged ≥70 years). The total number of regional cardiovascular disease deaths that hypothetically could have been averted in 2015 for peop...
Source: The Lancet Global Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: research