Factors underlying recent trends
The World Health Organisation's MONICA study (2000) assessed the relative contributions of incidence of the disease and survival to changes in coronary heart disease mortality in the study populations.
In populations in which mortality decreased, the study found that two-thirds of this reduction could be attributed to a reduction in incidence of coronary heart disease events, and one-third to survival following an event.
Approximately 70% of deaths from coronary heart disease recorded in the MONICA study, occurred before the patient reached hospital, and thus before treatment could influence the outcome.
References
- World Health Organisation's MONICA study (2000)
http://www.who.int/hpr/NPH/docs/who_fao_expert_report.pdf.